Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: A Change in Destiny
by NITRO PSYCHO
Summary: What if Piplup wasn't the only human sent to the Pokemon world. This is the story of a human who was sent to the Pokemon world after the destruction of time was stopped. Rated T to be on the safe side.
1. Prologue

**Me: Hi guys. I've decided to start a Pokémon fic because I needed something to do.**

**Lucario walks on stage.**

**Lucario: Hey, dude. You'd better not give up on this story like you did with that District 9 one.**

**Me: Hey, I didn't give up on that one Joey. It's just on hiatus because some moron on dA won't give me access to their O/Cs.**

**Joey: In other words, you've given up on the story.**

**Me: SHUT UP JOEY!**

**Lawyer walks on stage.**

**Lawyer: You don't have to shout NITRO. We're right here**

**Me: Whatever, dude. Just do the disclaimer.**

**Lawyer: Fine. Ahem, NITRO PSYCHO does not own anything that comes from the Pokémon franchise. However he does own the names of the O/Cs he puts in and the awesomeness that follows.**

**Joey: Now that that is taken care, go sue somebody you moron.**

**Lawyer walks offstage**

**Me: Great, now sit back, relax, put your arm around your imaginary girlfriend, and watch the coolness unfold.**

Joey had this major headache for some reason. This was odd since after the last one, he had taken steps to make sure he didn't get anymore. The air around him smelled strangely like saltwater, even though he had told everyone he knew how much he detested the beach.

Joey opened his eyes. He was smack dab in the middle of a beach. Yet there were no pier around, so this definitely wasn't the beach he was accustomed to. There was a large rock cliff that head that resembled something he knew was called Sharpedo.

_Man, what kind of nut job took the time to make that, _Joey thought.

Suddenly, a low rumbling came from the left of him. He turned to see a black cloud moving across the sea.

_What the hell is that _Joey thought.

He didn't have time to ask, for at that moment the black cloud hit him and the world went black.

_Several hours later…_

Joey was knocked backwards when the restored wind hit. He got up, shook all the sand off he could, and walked over to a nearby pond. However, when he got to it, his mouth flat-out dropped.

He had turned into a _Lucario_.

Without pausing to think, he started running up a trail that was conveniently close by.

_Meanwhile…_

Wigglytuff, Chatot, and the apprentices went down the stairs that lead to the guild. There they saw that Treasure Town had been restored.

"Hey, hey, hey, they did it" Corphish said.

"Oh my gosh, Piplup, Chimchar, and Grovyle are absolutely amazing" Sunflora squealed.

"They sure are something else, yup yup" Bidoof said.

"So when do you suppose BACK Guildmaster" Loudred asked, his voice still ridiculously loud.

"Hmmm, I don't know" Wigglytuff said. "It wouldn't be unnatural for them to be tired after what they've been through. I'd give them a day or two".

"Hey, hey, what's that" Corphish asked, pointing down a pathway that lead to the beach.

Something very fast was speeding towards them. It plowed into the group and sped off on a trail that led away from the town without so much as an apology.

"What do y'all suppose that was" Bidoof asked.

"Whatever it was, it sure seemed to be in a hurry" Chimecho said.

"Well, the sun is going to set soon" Dugtrio said. "We'd better head back to the guild and wait for their return.

With that, the Guild went back up the steps toward the guild.

_Three days later…_

Joey had been running nonstop for the past couple of hours on pure adrenaline. He hadn't slept a wink since first finding out he was a Lucario, but at that point, sleep was the least of his worries. He couldn't show his face in public now that his pride has been ruined.

Joey was now travelling through a place called Murky Forest. His pace slowed down considerably the deeper he went. He didn't know where he was going just that it was far away from where anyone would come to call.

Soon, the trail ended at a cave of some sorts. Joey warily went inside. He saw that it was a base of some sorts, but considering all the dust that accumulated, it had been unoccupied for a while.

_Good. This will be a great place to hide _Joey thought.

**Joey: Uh, okay, why is it that the only people I've beaten up right now are those dorks from Wigglytuff's Guild?**

**Me: Don't worry dude. This is only the prologue. The first official chapter will take place after team Poképals beats up Darkrai.**

**Joey: YAY…wait. Are you just copying this off those games that came out a couple of years ago?**

**Me: Actually yes.**

**Joey: And is this team Poképals those two dorks that were from those specials.**

**Me: Their evolved forms.**

**Joey: Why do I even know you dude?**

**Lawyer walks in.**

**Lawyer: Hooray, I just sued some big company and got a lot of money from it!**

**Joey: And good for you.**


	2. Reuniting the Heroes

**Me: Hey everyone. I'm back with the first real Chapter of a Change in Destiny.**

**Joey: And I bet it's going to be boring.**

**Me: Joey, stop being such a pessimist. You're in your own story, dude. You should be thrilled.**

**Joey: Only because you had to pay me $100 just to get me to go along with this.**

**I punch Joey in the face**

**Me: Joey, I've never paid anyone off in my entire life, so don't throw ideas around that are not true.**

**Joey: That still doesn't mean you didn't pay me off.**

**Me: THAT"S IT! **

**Pulls remote from pocket, presses button, and Joey is blasted with a heat-seeking missile. Lawyer walks in**

**Lawyer: Uh, NITRO, where'd you get that remote?**

**Me: I got it for next to nothing at this lame auction. All the other losers that were there bought these pathetic antiques, but I was the only one who had enough dignity to bid on something modern. Now stop asking stupid questions and set the mood while I glue Joey back together.**

**Lawyer: Wait, who's going to read the Story?**

**Me: I've already found a guy who's willing to do it.**

**Johnny Nitro walks in and sees Joey**

**Nitro: Eww, What happened here?**

**Me: He got a little uppity so I had to blast him with a missile. Take care of the story while I sort this out.**

**I walk offstage carrying Joey's body parts**

**Lawyer: Ahem, to put it simply, this chapter takes place about a month after Team ****Poképals has beaten Darkrai and foiled his plans to plunge the world in darkness. The members of Team Poképals**** would have already evolved by now, so they are know called Empoleon and Infernape ****This chapter is also the first full chapter, so this is actually Ch. 1. Enjoy.**

Empoleon and Infernape had been resting all morning. They had just gotten back from helping a Blissey rescue her kidnapped child out of the Forgotten Woods. However, the Porygon-Z that kidnapped him was no pushover, so they had to use every ounce of skill they had just to take it out. They were eventually able to take it out, and the Blissey was so grateful that she gave them a very generous reward.

Eventually, they got up.

"Morning, Empoleon" Infernape said. "Let's make this another great day-"

"Hey" a voice called from outside the bluff.

"Huh. I wonder who it is" Infernape asked.

Together, they went out, only to be plowed down by Bidoof.

"Hey, Bidoof" Empoleon smiled, pulling Infernape up. "I haven't seen you since you and Sunflora passed the Guild's graduation exam. What happening".

"It's-It's-It's-By Golly" Bidoof stuttered, unable to articulate what was happening.

"What is it" Infernape asked.

"Follow me" Bidoof said.

Curious about why Bidoof was in such a hurry to take them somewhere, Empoleon and Infernape followed him to the Guild. Sunflora was standing near the gate, and boy was she in a mood. Empoleon had always known what Sunflora was like when something happened, but he had never seen her like this before.

"Oh my gosh, Team Poképals" Sunflora squealed. "You will not believe what happened! It's simply amazing!"

"What happened, Sunflora" Infernape asked.

Sunflora grabbed them both by the hand and led them into the Guild's second underground level. They were surprised to see that everyone in the Guild was they, including Marill and Azurill, who had joined the Guild after they defeated Darkrai because Marill had become embarrassed of Team Poképals saving them all the time.

"Hey guys" Empoleon called. "We just got told that something was going on. So what's going on?"

"That's voice- Piplup" A familiar voice said within the crowd.

The crowd broke up, revealing the two Pokémon that they weren't expecting to see.

"Grovyle" Empoleon asked, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "Celebi?"

Nobody moved for a while. Then Grovyle, Celebi, and Team Poképals ran forward and hugged each other, overjoyed that they have been reunited.

_Later…_

"I still can't believe Dusknoir was only allying himself with Primal Dialga simply because he didn't want to disappear" Infernape went on.

The group had gone to Spinda's Café to have some time to themselves. Grovyle and Celebi had just finished telling them about what happened after Grovyle sacrificed himself to stop time from being destroyed.

Me too" Celebi said. "Luckily Grovyle helped him realize that if you had one moment that shined the brightest, then it wouldn't matter if he disappeared".

"Wow" Empoleon said.

"Well anyway, at least the threat of the world's destruction stopped when Temporal Tower was saved" Grovyle sighed, take sip of the drink Spinda had provided.

"Not exactly" Empoleon said. "Unfortunately, there is more to the story".

"What do you mean" Grovyle asked.

_Minutes later…_

"WHAT" Grovyle and Celebi yelled, causing some of the nearby explorers to jump in shock.

"You mean the whole crisis had been caused by Darkrai" Celebi asked, covering her mouth.

"Yes" Infernape said.

"And after he failed to destroy time, Darkrai turned his attention to distorting space" Grovyle went on.

"Yup" Infernape said.

"But first he had decide to get rid of you" Celebi continued.

"Yup, though I think he was more afraid of what would happen if we found out it was him the whole time" Infernape said.

"And to prevent it, the both of you, along with Palkia and Cresselia, travelled to Dark Crater and not only defeated him but erased his memory as he was trying to escape" Grovyle finished.

"Yup" Infernape said.

"I don't believe it" Celebi whispered.

"Me neither" Grovyle moaned.

"Hey, it okay, guys" Empoleon said. "The danger's passed. Even if Darkrai does recover from his injuries, he won't remember his schemes. The future is safe".

Grovyle and Celebi smiled and went for their drinks. However, they went for the same drink, and their hands touched as a result of it. They noticed this and instinctively pulled their hands back, blushing at the same time.

"Oooh, looks like somebody's in love" Infernape snickered.

Grovyle and Celebi blushed even more, yet they didn't seem to deny this claim. Instead, they moved even closer, with Grovyle wrapping its arm around Celebi.

"We'll leave you two lovebirds alone" Empoleon said, grabbing Infernape and leading him out of the café, thanking Spinda on the way out.

**Nitro: wow, this is a good story. I could really get into this.**

**Lawyer: Whatever. Oh and NITRO PSYCHO has set up a poll to see which team will meet Joey in the next Chapter.**

**Nitro: Oh, speaking of NITRO, I have to see when he's going to update the stories I'm in.**

**Lawyer: Whatever.**

_**Meanwhile…**_

**Me: I hope you learned something out of all this.**

**Joey: I sure did. Never trust a guy with a killer remote.**

**Me: You will learn will you?**

**Joey: Nope.**

**Me: Oh perfect. More liberal happiness.**


	3. Skull's Next Buttwhoppin'

**Me: Hi Joey! How did broadcasting the story go?**

**Joey: Well, I read what was on the cue cards like you said. But as soon as I was about to leave, some nut named Dingodile attacked me.**

**Me: Really?**

**Joey: Yeah, and the only way Bryce would call him off is if I turned on the Internet for him.**

**Me: Ouch, that must've been awful?**

_**Two weeks ago…**_

**Spartan: Hello**

**Me: Yo, how's it going dude?**

**Spartan: I've been better. I nearly fractured my hip in rugby practice yesterday, but I'm good.**

**Me: Great. Listen, I've got a favor I need to ask.**

**Spartan: What kind of favor?**

**Me: You know that Pokémon story you reviewed a couple of weeks ago?**

**Spartan: yeah.**

**Me: Well, Joey's been acting like a dork lately because he's in the story, so I want you to get back at him for me.**

**Spartan: How do you expect me to do that? I'm in Australia.**

**Me: Not a problem. I'm sending him over right now to advertize the story. See what you can do with him.**

**Spartan: I know just the guy for the job.**

**Me: Cool.**

_**Present day…**_

**Joey: It was. Next time you have me go somewhere, send one of those guys from **_**a Dragon's Heart **_**with me so this doesn't happen again.**

**I hand him a postcard**

**Joey: Wha… they're on vacation? In Australia?**

**Me: Yeah.**

**Joey: I'm out of here, dude.**

**Joey walks offstage**

**Dingodile: There you are!**

**Joey: OH HOLY FUCK!**

**Me: You can always rely on good timing.**

Grovyle and Celebi got up late the following morning. They had fallen asleep in each other's arms as usual, and had woken up staring at each other.

"Morning, Celebi" Grovyle said.

"Morning, my dear Grovyle" Celebi replied back.

They got up, yawned, and looked around. Empoleon and Infernape were not there.

"Where'd they go" Celebi asked.

"Knowing them, they probably went to the Guild to look up jobs" Grovyle shrugged.

They went outside, walked through Treasure Town, and climbed up the stairs to the guild. The gate was wide open, and neither Diglett nor Loudred were shouting up at them through the sentry post.

"That's odd" Grovyle said. "When we got here last time, we had to go through the Sentry post".

"Do you suppose something's wrong" Celebi asked.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected" A voice shouted up through the grating.

"Who's footprint! Who's footprint" A louder voice yelled.

"The footprint is Grovyle! The footprint is Grovyle" the first voice shouted.

"You may ENTER" the second voice shouted, putting emphasis on the word 'enter'.

Grovyle and Celebi rolled their eyes. Nothing was wrong after all. They were just early. They made their way down to the second floor basement to see Wigglytuff and Chatot talking to Empoleon. They then turned and left pausing only to say hi to Grovyle and Celebi.

"What's going on" Grovyle asked.

"Oh, hi" Infernape said. "Wigglytuff wanted us to watch over the Guild while he and Chatot went out for a while".

"Why" Celebi asked.

"Apparently the rumor about Murky Forest has started up again" Empoleon said.

"Rumor" Grovyle asked.

"Yeah" Infernape said. "Apparently when Wigglytuff was still a kid, he'd befriended what he thought was a retired explorer named Armaldo. Armaldo was the one who had taught him everything he knows. Unfortunately, Armaldo turned out to be a "B" rank outlaw. He was hiding in Murky Forest using a rumor that a terrifying monster lived in the depths".

"That's awful" Celebi said.

"It was" Infernape went on. "Now it appears there's a new monster living there, one far stronger than what Armaldo ever was".

"Yet for some reason, Wigglytuff believes it's his old master again" Empoleon added. "This brings us to where we are now".

"I see" Grovyle said.

"Don't worry, Wigglytuff said they'd only be gone for several days" Empoleon said. "Chatot said they'll be staying at Wigglytuff's childhood home. We'll catch up when we get back".

_Meanwhile…_

A trio of Poison Pokémon was walking through a secluded part of a pitch black forest. One of them was walking on the ground while the others were flying by him. They were Skuntank, Golbat, and Weezing of Team Skull, a trio of greedy thugs that had once terrorized Team Poképals over a year ago. However, they were now past trying to take them out and instead were trying to one-up them. So far they were unsuccessful, so they were now trying to aim at taking out the Monster in Murky Forest

"Heh-heh-heh, chief. Do you really think this is such a good idea" Golbat asked.

"Ho-ho-ho, yeah, my thought exactly" Weezing added.

"Chaw-haw-haw, it doesn't matter if it's a good idea or not" Skuntank said. "Once we take it out, then we'll have shown that those wimps are a thing of the past".

"Heh-heh-heh, but chief, I've done some research" Golbat said. "This monster has already sent back over a half-dozen teams in the last month already. What makes us so different?"

"Because we've had time to scout it out" Skuntank explained. "Now that we know what we're up against, it'll be that much easier to take it down. Chaw-haw!"

Golbat and Weezing looked at each other and nervously chuckled. They didn't think that their leader was weak or anything, yet at the moment they were beginning to think he was obsessing with undermining Empoleon and Infernape.

Eventually, they made it to an open clearing deep in the forest. There were several burn marks on the ground beneath them.

"You think it's here" Golbat asked.

"Only one way to find out" Skuntank said. "Weezing, prepare for the ol' noxious gas special".

Immediately, Weezing floated over to Skuntank's side.

"We are Team Skull, an exploration team" Skuntank yelled into the clearing. "Show yourself, if you're there".

No one came out. Skuntank and Weezing just stood there, waiting for something to happen.

"Nothing is happening boss" Golbat said.

"What-" Weezing gulped.

"I don't believe this" Skuntank yelled. "It was just a stupid rumor. We were tricked into coming out here. When I get my hands on whoever started that rumor, oh they will pay".

Team Skull turned around and headed back to the trail. However they hadn't gone more than a few feet when a rustling of bushes made them stop.

"Why are you here" a low voice said. "This is my home".

"Chaw-haw-haw, well excuse us for trespassing" Skuntank laughed. "Unfortunately, were not going anywhere just yet".

"He-he… we aren't" Golbat gasped.

"Depart from this place now" The voice said.

"No way, now how" Skuntank said. "Not before we defeat you that is. Chaw-haw-haw".

"Humph, I've seen characters like you before" the voice scoffed. "The overconfident losers who think they can gang up on a guy to look tough. You're pathetic".

"Pathetic" Skuntank snapped. "I'll show you pathetic. Weezing, get over here".

Weezing floated back to his side.

"This is what you get for insulting Team Skull" Skuntank said. "Take this. A noxious gas special, straight from me and Weezing".

With that, both of them released Smog, sending the combined stench into the clearing. Team Skull waited a few seconds to see if it had recovered.

"We- we did it" Golbat gasped, flying forward.

"Chaw-haw, naturally" Skuntank said. "Now let's find out who this is and get the reward for it".

Suddenly, the bushes in front of them shook.

"Dragon Pulse" The voice yelled.

A red-hot fireball shot forward. Golbat and Weezing were able to get out of the way, but Skuntank wasn't so lucky, as he was blasted backwards, knocking him out instantly.

"Chief" Weezing and Golbat yelled.

"Psychic" the voice said again.

Golbat and Weezing were enveloped in a wave of telekinetic energy. They were shot back, collided with Skuntank, and were blasted into the air and out of sight.

_Back on the ground…_

Joey stepped out from behind where the bushes were.

"Disappointing" he said before turning around and heading back to the cave.

**ME: Well, that was certainly one of my more interesting chapters. For those of you who voted for Team AWD, Team Frontier, or Team Raider, sorry you didn't have enough votes. And as for the two People who voted for Team Charm, I just couldn't see them doing something like this.**

**Joey runs in, followed by Dingodile**

**Joey: Get this crazy jerk away from me.**

**Dingodile: I almost got ya mate.**

**Me: Aw, but he looks like he's having fun.**

**Joey: NITRO, seriously, do something.**

**Me: All right, all right.**

**Pressed button on remote, Dingodile gets mowed down by Gatling guns.**

**Joey: Thanks.**

**Me: That was odd. I thought I told Bryce to stop the attacks?**

**Joey: Wha- you jerk! You were in on this?**

**Me: Well I'd asked him to get back at you for me, but I didn't think he'd drag it this far out.**

**Joey: You're the worst, dude. **_**Walks offstage**_

**Me: You know, I'm not really that mad at Spartan, because I know he's got some serious hell coming his way. Dude, he's dead.**


	4. IT'S ON NOW!

_**Inside a limo…**_

**Eva: Are you sure this is where you sent Dingodile, Bryce? He's been going in circles for a while now.**

**Spartan: Yeah. This is definitely where I sent him.**

**Rotom: Well, it was certainly nice of NITRO to allow us to come over and hear his story.**

**Spartan: Yeah. But what I don't get is how you guys managed to steal my credit card.**

**Eva: Uh, yeah you should really stop leaving things lying around for other people to find, Bryce.**

_**Me, Joey, and Casey hiding behind dumpsters**_

**Joey: Ok, what does inviting them over, bringing Casey back from Australia, and us wearing beekeeper uniforms have to do with us getting back at Bryce?**

**Me: Simple, Joey. The guys think there arriving in a limo to hear my story, but little do they know we have a box full of bees that were gonna put through the sunroof. And we rigged the locks so they can't get out.**

**Casey: Ha, and when they do get out, we got a couple of marbles for 'em.**

**Me: This is the Beehive Limo.**

_**Limo…**_

**Castor: How long 'til we get there?**

**Spartan: It can't be long now, guys.**

**Eva: We're here.**

**Limo stops in front of studio**

**Me: There here.**

**Presses button on remote, sunroof opens**

**Castor: Dude, what's up with the sunroof?**

**Presses another button, locks sink down**

**Rotom: Oh crud, we're locked in!**

**Casey pours bees in limo, occupants scream**

**Spartan: Wha- who's pouring bees in here-OW!**

**Joey: Oh man, this is, like, worse than a hanging.**

**Joey spreads marbles on driveway**

**Casey: All right, let them out, dude.**

**Unlocks the doors, Casey opens one**

**Spartan: Dude, the door's open!**

**Eva: Run!**

**Everyone runs out and slips on marbles**

**Joey: Oh my god, the poor limo driver's running around freaking out!**

**Me: How did you guys like your welcome reception!**

**Spartan: Wha- you didn't have to do this to us!**

**Eva: Oh my god, my hip. I think I gave birth.**

**Casey: Let's get you guys inside, man. We've got a medic inside.**

The last few days had been a strain on Grovyle. Every time he went to the Guild to see Empoleon and Infernape, they were always too busy to go out with them.

"Look I'm sorry, but until Wigglytuff and Chatot get back from this whole 'monster' business, there's not a whole lot we can do right now" Infernape said after the last time.

Grovyle's patience was starting to strain. He had been hoping to go on more adventures with them by now, but so far that had proven to be impossible to happen.

"Don't worry" Celebi said. "Wigglytuff and Chatot said they would only be gone for a couple of days. Well, it's been a couple of days, so they should be back sometime soon".

"Your right" Grovyle said. "But I really wanted to go exploring with my friends sooner. It's hard waiting for something to happen".

"I know it's hard, my dear Grovyle, but you'll be able to eventually" Celebi said, kissing him on the cheek.

Celebi led Grovyle outside, where the sun had almost fully risen. They watched it go up the rest of the way, then went to the guild to see is Wigglytuff was back yet. However when they reached the second underground floor they received a bit of a shock: Wigglytuff and Chatot were slumped down on the floor, scratches and bruises all over them. One of Chatot's wings was even in a sling.

"What happened" Grovyle asked.

"Apparently this monster is more powerful than we thought, hey hey" Corphish said. "Apparently whatever lives there now took offense to them showing up. But, hey hey, I've never seen Wigglytuff get taken out like this before".

"But whose going to handle the monster now that the Guildmaster and Chatot have failed" Marill said.

All the apprentices, along with Empoleon and Infernape, huddled into a circle. They then started discussing the situation.

"What do we do, my dear Grovyle" Celebi whispered to Grovyle. "We can't just stand here and let this monster bully everyone in its path".

"I know" Grovyle said. "It seems like this monster is going to great lengths to protect something".

Grovyle looked at Celebi, who was smiling. He smiled back at her and nodded.

"We'll do it" Celebi said aloud.

"What" everyone else said, turning toward the pair.

"We'll take care of this monster business" Celebi said. "Consider it our gift to you guys for saving the future".

Everyone else turned and talked this over. After a while they turned back to Grovyle and Celebi.

"It's agreed" Empoleon said. "We'll let you deal with this monster crisis. This creature has shown this it has power, so you best be prepared for a fight".

"Don't worry Empoleon, we'll be fine" Celebi said.

With that, Grovyle and Celebi left for Treasure Town to stock up on supplies for their next mission.

_Later that night, in Murky Forest…_

Joey was staring deeply into the fire he had created not too long ago, thinking back on his life as a Pokémon. It had been one year since he had first discovered that he was now a Lucario and had fled into Murky Forest. He had survived the last year on instinct alone, eating Apples and a weird food called Gummis he'd found in the forest as well as defeating nosy explorers trying to take out the so-called 'monster' lurking where he was living. He had even taken a weird pleasure at watching a Wigglytuff mistake him as his master.

The only real drawback was that he had no memory of events that happened before he was a Pokémon, expect for his name and the fact that he was human. However, he had this strange feeling that he wasn't born human at all, which made himself feel worse.

Joey sighed and continued watching the fire until it went out. He then went over to his bed and went to sleep.

_One hour later…_

_In dream…_

Joey was lying in what appeared to be a metal room. Screens were flashing all around him, yet he had no clue what they were for. Before he could figure out what was going on, a door opened and a strange creature came out. It was wearing the strangest garments he had ever seen.

"Welcome Joey" the creature said. "We've been expecting you to wake up for a while now. It's great to see you have survived".

The creature's voice was oddly distorted, and what he said didn't make any sense at all.

"Survived what" Joey said, his voice distorted as well. "What am I?"

"You're a clone" the creature said. "You've been in cryostasis for 5 months, slowly forming into what you are".

Confused, Joey lifted his right hand. When he did, he saw that it was no longer a Lucario's hand but a human's. He let out a scream, and as he did, he woke up. Immediately, he checked his right hand. Sure enough, it was still a Lucario's.

Joey had always had odd dreams the past year, but tonight's was definitely the oddest one yet. The creature had seemed to know him, but he couldn't recall what it was.

_Oh man, who was that guy _Joey thought. _And what in the world is a clone. That's the one thing that doesn't make any sense._

Deciding he wouldn't look into the matter until later, he slowly went back to sleep.

_**At airport…**_

**Joey: Is it me, or does NITRO have some sick ideas for his stories or what?**

**Casey: I know. It's like there isn't a tangent that NITRO doesn't want to break. Well my flight's about to leave soon, so I'll catch up with you later.**

**Joey: Yeah.**

_**Back at studio…**_

**Me: You guys feelin' any better.**

**Eva: you suck, NITRO.**

**Me: I love you too, Eva.**

**Castor: Well, hopefully all the bee stings will be enough to fix Bryce's huge ass.**

**Spartan: Hey, that's not fair!**

**Me: Shut up, big butt.**

**Spartan: I am never coming back here again.**


	5. Revelations

**Me: What up, Joey. Why are you all sweaty?**

**Joey: The Lawyer's here.**

**Me: So?**

**Joey: So? The dude's saying weird stuff.**

**Me: How weird?**

**Lawyer walks in, trying to look 'Gangsta'**

**Me: What's up with you?**

**Lawyer: I don't feel so good, dude. I think I have Bieber Fever.**

**Me: Beaver fever?**

**Lawyer: No dude, Bieber Fever! I think I have all the signs of it, guys.**

**Me: Oy.**

**Joey: Dude, stay away from me if you're sick.**

**Me: Joey, Bieber Fever ain't an illness. It's just an all encompassing love for Justin Bieber, **_**whom I disdain.**_

**Lawyer: Dude, why are you trippin' out on Justin Bieber? The kid is a music genius.**

**Me: Ok, ok. The guy's got some good songs. I'll give him that, loser. The fact of the matter is that people are giving him more credit then what's there. If you ask me, I think the guy's overrated.**

**Lawyer runs off crying like a little girl**

**Me: Ok, now that the idiocy is taken care of, I'd like to invite my guest at this time. He is from ****MidnightStar27's story **_**TLOS: A Legend Is Born. **_**Please welcome Aeolus.**

**Aeolus walks in**

**Aeolus: This is kinda nice, dude. At least Blazer ain't here. That guy's a dork.**

**Me: You know, I've been thinking about that. I find that you don't like him because he's cooler than you.**

**Aeolus: Is not!**

**Me: Is too.**

**Aeolus: Is not!**

**Me: Is too.**

**Aeolus: Is not!**

**Me: Is not.**

**Aeolus: Is too!**

**Me: Ha, I just Bugs Bunny'd you.**

**Aeolus storms offstage**

**Joey: Bugs Bunny'd him?**

**Me: *sigh* Do I have to explain everything to you?**

**Joey: Apparently you do.**

**Me: Great, that's a mood killer. Luckily, I have a guy on standby that can take care of the story until this is sorted out. Yo Evan, get in here.**

**Evan walks in, crow in tow.**

**Evan: Hey dude.**

**Me: Hey. Take care of the story while I sort all this out.**

**Evan: No problem.**

**Me: Oh and before I leave, I have to mention one last thing. This is the scene where Grovyle and Celebi fight Johnny. Grovyle will use Bullet Seed, Energy Ball, Leaf Blade, and Dig, and at the same time, Celebi will have Magical Leaf, Ancientpower, Psychic, and Heal Bell. **

**Joey: And I'm at my mid to upper 50's since and know Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse, Psychic, and Shadow Claw.**

**Me: Enjoy.**

It had been four days since Celebi and Grovyle had accepted the challenge to take out the monster. Two days ago, they had met Wigglytuff's parents, who were more than willing to let them stay while they went about the mission. After two days of asking around, they entered Murky Forest and began making their way to the deepest part.

"What do you suppose were going to face, my dear Grovyle" Celebi asked when they were getting close to the end.

"Who knows" Grovyle said. "We just have to see for ourselves".

_Meanwhile…_

Joey was sitting in the back of the cave, the hairs on the back of his head standing on end. Months ago, when exploration teams were first showing up to beat him, he recalled that Lucario had an ability called Hadou (or Aura Sense for lack of a clear explanation), and had been using it ever since to detect any new challenges. This time, he saw two figures, one walking and one floating, heading toward the clearing.

_Wow, usually it takes a couple of weeks for new opponents to come here _Joey thought as he got up to leave the cave. _Oh well, here we go again._

_Meanwhile…_

Grovyle and Celebi had made their way to the clearing.

"Nobody's here" Celebi whispered.

"He's probably waiting for a chance to ambush us" Grovyle whispered back.

"What, no hello" a voice asked from out of nowhere.

Grovyle and Celebi jumped. They were not expecting the monster to be so open to them.

"Where are you" Grovyle asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Funny, that was the same question I was about to ask you" the voice laughed.

"We are here to look for the monster that's supposedly in this part of the forest" Grovyle said.

"Monster, huh" the voice said. "Well, there ain't any monsters here, only me. So why don't you just turn around and go back the way you came".

"No way" Grovyle said.

"Then you leave me no choice" the voice said. "Aura Sphere".

Immediately, a blue energy ball shot out from out of nowhere. Grovyle and Celebi managed to get out of the way in time.

"Bullet Seed" Grovyle yelled releasing a stream of seeds where the attack came from.

"Ancientpower" Celebi yelled, sending her attack as well.

"Psychic" the voice countered.

Both Bullet Seed and Ancientpower were stopped by a bright blue light and were sent back to their respective owners, who once again were forced to dodge the attack. This routine went on for about fifteen minutes. However no one seemed to get the upper hand.

"Wow, this is the first time I've had to push myself" the voice said, charging up an Aura Sphere.

"Yeah well this will be your last" Grovyle laughed, prepping an Energy Ball.

They both sent their attacks at the same time.

"Psychic" Celebi yelled, stopping both the attacks and forcing them into the ground.

Grovyle and the shadow in front of him stared at the pink Pokémon.

"This fight is getting us nowhere" Celebi said calmly. "We are too evenly matched. Besides I don't believe this guy's much of a threat".

"How do you know" Grovyle asked.

"We won't know for sure… 'til we ask" Celebi smiled.

With that, Celebi flew into the bushes. A small amount of rustling ensued.

"Hey, what are you…" the voice sputtered.

Moments later, Celebi flew out, dragging an extremely surprised Lucario by the arm. The Lucario yanked itself from her grasp when they stopped.

"You didn't have to drag me out in the open like that" the Lucario muttered.

"Wha- who are you" Grovyle asked.

"My name's Joey" the Lucario said. "I'd like to tell you more about myself, but unfortunately I'm having a bit of a memory problem as of late".

"It's okay" Celebi smiled. "Just try to remember a little at a time".

With that, Celebi took his arm again and led him to the trail back out of the forest, Grovyle following close behind.

**Evan: Wow, this chapter was sick. This is even better than the chapter's in my story.**

_**Backstage…**_

**Me: Anymore stupid questions you want to ask?**

**Joey: Nope.**

**Me: Good.**

**Thump on door, Joey goes to check, finds letter**

**Joey: Yo, NITRO. You got a letter, dude.**

**Me: Don't tell me it's a love letter from a rabid fangirl, 'cause if it is, that the third one this week.**

**Joey hands letter over**

**Me: Ha ha, it's from Spartan. All right, I'll read it, dude.**

**Letter: Dear NITRO, you and Joey are cordially invited to come over to hear the next chapter of **_**The Talking Eevee. **_**Your tickets have already been provided for you and we hope to see you soon. Eva**

**Me: Oh my God, that has revenge game written all over it.**

**Joey: So are we going.**

**Me: Of course. I can't wait to see what kind of revenge games they're going to pull. Only were not going to use their tickets.**

**Joey: Why not?**

**Me: According to my calculations, if you're as popular as I am, it's quicker to get your own plane.**

**Joey: Oh.**

**Me: Anyway, Bryce is probably going to have something up his sleeve when we get there, so everybody watch your backs.**


	6. Revelations Par Deux

_**At hospital…**_

**Nurse: Ok you two, the doctor has just cleared the both of ya to leave today. But the guy stresses that you two don't get into too dangerous mate.**

**Me: Yeah right. Like that's gonna stop us.**

_**An hour later, at Bryce's house…**_

**Caster: Oh man, I can't believe those losers fell for that 6 dollar trick!**

**Rotom: We got them good!**

**Dingodile: Hey Bryce, aren't you afraid NITRO's going to get back at you, mate? He seems like the type of guy that can hold a grudge.**

**Spartan: Don't sweat it mate. NITRO has got nothing on us.**

**Group gets into Eva's Hummer and drives off, me and Joey pop out of bushes**

**Joey: The spare keys are under the mat.**

**I grab keys and unlock door**

**Me: It's a good thing Dingodile defected on those idiots and asked us to housesit for him, otherwise there's no way that we could've done this.**

**Make our way upstairs**

**Joey: Let's start with Caster's room.**

**Enters room… and destroys it**

**Joey: Ok, let's hit Eva's room next.**

**Enters Eva's room, which is lined with pictures of Bryce, her parents and her friends**

**Me: Dude, I know what to do with this stuff.**

**Joey: What NITRO?**

**Me: You'll see**

**Grabs lipstick off dresser and begins writing **_**Gay **_**on the pictures with it**

Grovyle, Celebi, and a slightly miffed Joey had been walking down the trail out of Murky Forest for an hour now. To ease off some of the tension, Celebi had asked Joey to tell them how he wound up out here.

"Well to be honest, I don't really know" Joey shrugged. "All I really cared about was getting as far away from everyone else as I could. Put it this way you guys, would you want to be seen if your pride had been wrecked for no reason?"

"No" Grovyle said.

"Then that's how I ended up out here, Grovyle" Joey

"Oh, I can see the exit" Celebi cried.

Sure enough, there was a light at the far end of the trail they were on. Grovyle and Celebi hurried onward, but Joey just went at a slower pace than usual. Eventually, the three made it to the exit. Joey had to shield his eyes because they have been in this much light for a year. When he could look up, he saw that the sun was almost setting.

"It's beautiful, ain't it" Celebi said.

"I guess" Joey shrugged.

Well, it's getting late, guys" Grovyle said. "Let's head back to the house".

_That night…_

Wigglytuff's parents had been rather kind to Joey ever since he got there. They had even provided him dinner and a warm bed to sleep in. Joey couldn't help but feel happy that his life was beginning to turn around. After eating his share of the food he quickly went to bed.

Celebi and Grovyle smiled when they saw their new friend was happy. They then stepped outside to watch the sun set the rest of the way.

"You know, when you stop and think about it, it's all very strange" Celebi said.

"What is" Grovyle said.

"Think about it, my dear Grovyle" Celebi said. "Joey wakes up one day and discovers he's been turned into a Pokémon, but with no memory of who he was or how he got there. Rather than look for someone to help him, he runs off and hides out in Murky Forest for over a year. Then, days before we meet him, he has a dream where someone tells him that he's a clone".

"It is strange when you put it that way" Grovyle said. "But let's not bother him about it".

With that, Grovyle and Celebi head back inside and go to bed.

_Meanwhile…_

_In dream…_

Joey was walking down a metallic hallway. Odd fixtures were hanging above him, each lighting a specific part of the hallway he was in. Eventually, he made his way to some sort of doorway and went through it. The creature was already there, with another one of the same creatures that Joey couldn't help but think was cute.

"Joey, you're up early" the first creature said. "How was your morning?"

"Ok I guess" Joey shrugged.

"Well, I'd like you to meet someone" the first creature said as the other stepped forward.

"Hello, I'm Callie" the creature said. "I'm hoping to become a scientist like my dad one day, so I've been studying with my dad for a while".

"A scientist" Joey asked, unsure as to what she was talking about.

"That's right" Callie said. "Come on, I'll show you around".

Callie took Joey's hand and took him on a whirlwind tour of the facility. In the end she led him back to his room, where a cat with a twisted tail was laying on his bed.

"What's this" Joey asked.

"This is a Pokémon" Callie said. "Pokémon are amazing creatures that have certain abilities and types. This one is called Glameow".

"Meow" the Glameow said, staring up at them.

It then jumped down from the bed and began nudging him.

"Joey… Joey… Joey" a voice said out of nowhere.

Just like that, Joey was pulled out of the dream. He looked up and saw that Celebi was staring up at him.

"Come on Joey" Celebi said. "Grovyle said he wants to head back early".

Joey sat up and saw that sunlight was just starting to come through the window. He sighed as he got up, said goodbye to Wigglytuff's parents, and left with Grovyle and Celebi.

_The next day…_

Diglett was lying idly at the sentry post. There had been so few visitors these days that there wasn't much to do. At that moment he heard two pairs of footsteps and a small fluttering of wings before someone stood on the grating.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected" Diglett yelled down.

"Whose footprint, whose footprint" Loudred's voice shouted back.

"The footprint is Grovyle's, the footprint is Grovyle's" Diglett yelled.

"You may ENTER" Loudred yelled up. "NEXT"

The procedure proceeded with Diglett identified the footprint of a Celebi and Lucario, although Diglett took a little while longer to identify him. Diglett was then told to leave the post and meet everyone in the meeting hall.

Everyone, including Team Poképals and a still bandaged Wigglytuff and Chatot, watched as first Grovyle, then Celebi, then the Lucario came down.

"Everyone, we have a guest today" Celebi said. "This is Joey. All of you should know him as the monster from Murky Forest".

All other Pokémon gasped, and murmuring began to circulate thruought the Guild.

"However, he had been attacking the exploration teams that had gotten to the end of Murky forest for two reasons" Grovyle said. "One was because they were invading his privacy, and the other was because he was afraid of being seen in the form he's in now".

"What do you mean" Chatot asked.

"He believes he used to be human" Celebi said. "However, a creature had described him as a clone in a dream a couple of nights ago".

More murmuring circulated thruought the Guild. Finally they look up as Chatot flew over to the trio.

"All right, we will believe Joey story… for now" Chatot said. "However, if he starts harassing people, we'll be the first ones to know. Got it?"

Joey, who was trying not to get involved, looked right at Chatot.

"Look, I'm the type of guy that, when I want something, you'll know it when I'm in your face" Joey said. "Now, if you don't mind Chatot, I'd appreciate it if you got out of my face".

"I just want the truth known, Joey" Chatot said, backing up slowly.

"The truth will set you free, Chatot" Joey said.

**Joey: Oh my God, Eva's gonna hate us forever. Hey NITRO, where did you get the idea dude?**

**Me: From a TV show, dude... I think.**

**Joey: All right, let's get out of here before they get back.**

**Me: Not yet. There's one last thing that I have to do first.**

_**Several minutes later…**_

**Joey: Will you hurry up NITRO? I'm getting nervous.**

**I come down with a heavy box**

**Joey: What's in there NITRO?**

**Me: Something for Rotom to remember me by.**

**Sets box down on porch, Joey sees letter**

**Letter: Yo Bryce, do not mess with the contents of this box. It is extremely important to me that the stuff in here should remain intact. Regards, NITRO**

**Joey: Why did you tell him not to mess with it?**

**Me: Because knowing Bryce like I do, he's definitely gonna do the exact opposite of what I just asked him to do.**


	7. Gettin' Around

**Me: What's up kids? NITRO PSYCHO here. I've managed to use my awesome coolness to rent out a studio here in Australia.**

**Joey: By pointing your killer remote at the guys who were using it.**

**Me: You know me oh so well, Joey.**

**Johnny enters the room**

**Johnny: Yo, NITRO. I've finally edited the tape.**

**Me: Great. Thanks, Johnny.**

**Joey: What's the tape for?**

**Me: You know how in Bryce's newest chapter, he said the box had a tape recording of that Goofy Goober song?**

**Joey: Yeah.**

**Me: Well, I set up invisible tape recorders all over the guy's house and this should be what actually happened.**

**Puts tape in VCR (Yeah, I'm going old-school) and presses play**

_**Video…**_

**Spartan: Wow, I'm surprised NITRO hasn't blown up the house.**

**Eva: Yeah, it looks like you were being paranoid after all, Dingodile.**

**Amy (see Spartan's new story for better details): I still don't get it guys. Who's this NITRO person?**

**Dingodile: You don't want to know.**

**Eva: Hey guys, what's up with this box?**

**Rotom: There's a note on it.**

**Letter: Yo Bryce, do not mess with the contents of this box. It is extremely important to me that the stuff in here should remain intact. Regards, NITRO**

**Amy: I wonder what's in here.**

**Eva: Probably some apology present that NITRO doesn't want us to open 'til he gets here.**

**Everyone enters the house; Caster makes his way to his room**

**Eva: You guys want anything to drink?**

**Nerio (again, see the guy's newest story): I'll just have some water. I'm not really used to all the drinks that you guys-**

**Caster: Yo, my room is fucking destroyed.**

**Everyone runs up**

**Nerio: Oh my God. What happened in here?**

**Spartan: I have no Idea.**

**Amy: It looks like something rabid tore up the place.**

**Rotom: I know. Hey, you don't suppose NITRO had anything to do with this?**

**Spartan: Impossible. NITRO's a class act for sure, but there's no way that guy could-**

**Eva screams**

**Spartan: What the-**

**Everyone runs to Eva's room, sees photos**

**Eva: I WILL KILL YOU NITRO, AND WOUND YOU JOEY!**

**Caster: How do you know NITRO did this?**

**Eva: I'd recognize that punk's handwriting anywhere.**

**Silence…**

**Spartan: Oh my God, NITRO's not fooling around this time.**

**Rotom: What now you guys?**

**Spartan: The only thing we can do: go downstairs and smash the box!**

**Everyone heads downstairs and destroys the box with sledgehammers (Dingodile not getting involved for obvious reasons)**

**Eva: Ha! Take that, NITRO!**

**Nerio: Wait, there's a note inside.**

**Note: Dear idiots, if you didn't follow the instructions of my first letter and have proceeded to wreck the box with the sledgehammers I have so generously provided, I have one thing to say: HAHAHAHAHA, that's Rotom's stuff you morons. I set you up, fools. NITRO. P.S. don't even bother trying to find where I'm hiding out. I have used my killer remote to supercharge the defenses.**

**Rotom faints**

_**End video…**_

**Joey: Oh man that was hilarious.**

**Me: I know.**

If, years ago when Joey still had his memory, someone had told that he would one day wake up as a Pokémon in some unknown world, Joey would've dismissed the thought. If someone had told him that he would hide out in some forest for the good part of a year, Joey would've kicked him out of his circle of friends, for fear of insanity. And if someone told him that he would become friends with Pokémon from the future, Joey would've throttled the guy right then and there.

So, when Joey first ended up in the Pokémon world as a Lucario and without any memory, he was alarmed. Curious, yes, but mostly alarmed.

When Joey had been hiding in Murky Forest for the good part of a year, he had been kicking himself for 3 straight months

And when Joey was made to leave by Grovyle and Celebi, two Pokémon who just so happened to be from the future, Joey had stopped trying to comprehend his predicament altogether.

For the first couple of days since he got to Treasure Town, Joey had been getting acquainted with everyone. The whole town seemed to have forgiven him for the Murky Forest thing and was rather friendly toward him, though at times the strangeness of the events that got Joey in this situation would catch up with him, and he'd have to stop and think about how he got here in the first place. Chatot was the only one who showed no interest in him, stating that he still remembered how he got the upper hand on him and Wigglytuff last week.

One day, as Joey was coming off of a chat with the Kecleon brothers, Grovyle and Celebi came up to them and asked the green brother what was in stock, purchasing several important items.

"What with the stuff, guys" Joey asked.

"The three of us are heading for the future" Grovyle said. "We were only cleared for a couple of weeks in this time. And I doubt you would take us heading back without you too well. So, do you want to come?"

"Sure" Joey shrugged.

"Great" Celebi said. "We'll leave tomorrow".

_That night…_

_Dream…_

The dream Joey was in was certainly new for him. Instead of the strange place he had seen the last couple of times; it was now just a bunch of flashing, multi-colored lights.

"What is going on here" Joey muttered.

At that moment, a shadow appeared in front of Joey. As it solidified, Joey could tell it was a Pokémon. However, it was unlike any Pokémon he had ever seen before. Almost all of its body was covered in white armor, yet it had a grey underbelly. A golden arch surrounded its body as it stared down at Joey with emerald green eyes.

"Welcome, Joey" the Pokémon said calmly. "I have been longing to meet you".

"Wha- who are you" Joey asked.

"You may call me Arceus" the Pokémon explained. "I see that you are headed for the future tomorrow. I want to wish you luck and I will be in contact with you there".

" 'kay" Joey shrugged.

With that, Arceus disappeared.

_Several days later…_

The trip through Shimmer Hill was no picnic. Many high level Pokémon lived there, making it hard to get through. In the end, they reached the Passage of Time, the known portal Celebi uses to travel to eras.

"Are use sure this is a good idea guys" Joey asked as Celebi finished powering it up. "I'm not so sure this thing is stable".

"Don't worry" Celebi said.

"Too late" Joey moaned.

They jumped through the portal without another word

**Me: Ok, that was more of a filler chapter because I had a Poll up to see which story I would update first in the New Year. Lucky for you guys, it's this one.**

**Joey: Gotta love it.**

**Me: Oh, and I set up a new story called Journal for Hell. I'm trying out something new and I need reviews to see if it's good.**

**Dingodile walks in**

**Dingodile: NITRO, you have got to watch your back, mate. Bryce is stressed out, Eva's furious, Rotom's been on one hell of a drinking binge, Amy and Nerio have been asking questions about you nonstop, and Caster just wants to hurt you. They are all gunning for you, mate!**

**Me: Yeah, I know. And I'll be waitin'.**


	8. Wow, I'm in the Future

_**Picking up from Spartan B312's story…**_

**Joey: Seriously, why did you place the power generator outside of the defenses?**

**Me: We gotta think resale value Joey, who is gonna buy this place if there is a big Generator messing up the view. Crap, I'm gonna have to reboot the defenses; they are too distracted by the flares.**

**Joey: No good, they will be here by the time it gets back up. We should get ready.**

**Me: You're right, let's go.**

_**Power goes down**_

_**Outside…**_

**Spartan: All right troops, charge!**

**Eva: Forward, now!**

**Crowd: Where is the enemy?**

**Spartan: Don't worry, there will be plenty of opposition soon enough.**

_**Meanwhile…**_

**In front of a crowd of rebellious teenage representatives from every country I've received hits from, **_**including**_** Australia, armed with heavy-duty Paintball weaponry**

**Me: All right troops, Bryce and his forces have breached our perimeter defenses. What they don't realize is that they've initiated step one of defeating someone easily: Distraction. Now it's our turn to attack. Let's go!**

**Crowd: Booyah!**

_**Back outside…**_

_**Bryce and Eva get into a chariot pulled by ten of the crowd**_

**Eva: Forward slaves!**

_**Everybody charges, but then the door to the studio starts to open**_

**Spartan: Hold up, they're here!**

**Toy RC's roll out**

**Eva: What the-. Is this some kind of joke?**

**Wave of **_**my **_**army comes through from secret exits**

**Caster: Look out!**

**Weapons fire, Spartan's army gets tagged by paintballs, paintbombs, etc. (use your imaginations)**

**Spartan: They're picking us off!**

**Rest of **_**my **_**army bursts through the front, weapons blasting**

**Spartan: Retreat! Fall back!**

**Stragglers retreat, nets come out and capture Amy, Nerio, and Caster**

**Spartan: NOOOOO!**

**Nets get pulled back inside, doors close**

**Spartan: We have to go back for them!**

**Eva: Bryce, there is nothing you can do for them. He knew that we were coming. We have to get out of here.**

**Spartan and Eva retreat**

Joey let out a groan as he slowly woke up from the time travelling trip he just went on with Grovyle and Celebi. He got to his feet and slowly looked around. He realized he was now standing on top of what appeared to be a temple surrounded by a giant valley. Clusters of trees surrounded the entire landscape. Above them was a tower that was sitting on top of floating rocks.

"Wow, you're up first" a voice said behind him.

Joey quickly turned around and saw that he was standing in front of a dragon. Yet this dragon seemed different from the ones Joey knew of. This one was a midnight blue with sky blue lights marking parts of his body. There were steel like objects sticking out at various places, one of which having a diamond in the center. While there were evidentially no wings on it, it was floating in mid-air.

"Wha…who are you" Joey asked, unsure as to what is going on.

"I am Dialga, master of Time" the dragon said. "The place you are in now is the Hidden Land, vocal point of where I regulate Time. I know that you are friends with Grovyle and Celebi, so I trust you".

"Where are they" Joey said quickly.

"We're right here" Celebi's voice said.

Joey turned around to see that Grovyle and Celebi were slowly getting up. Joey smiled knowing that both his friends were ok.

"Dialga" Grovyle said curtly.

"Grovyle" Dialga nodded.

The group stared up at the legendary Pokémon for a few seconds. Then with a quick nod, Grovyle and Celebi made their way down the temple as Dialga flew back up towards the tower. Joey, who for obvious reason couldn't figure out what was going on, quickly followed his friends.

_The next day…_

Treasure Town seemed to have changed since the trio was in the past. Kecleon Market was still there, seeing as it was a family business, but everything else seemed to be new or changed. There also seemed to be a lot more activity than in the past.

"So, what do you think of the place" Celebi asked once they made it through the crowd.

"Wow" Joey said simply.

"That's what everyone says the first time they come here" Grovyle said. "You'll get use to it after a while. We'll see where we live in a moment".

They took a left at the same stairs that always lead to the Guild. When they reached the top, Joey got a bit of a surprise: instead of Wigglytuff's head on top of the tent, it was now Grovyle's that was in the spot.

"You're the Guildmaster in the future dude" a somewhat skeptic Joey asked.

"That's right" Grovyle nodded.

After getting past a mother/daughter Sentret and Furret, who happened to be the new sentries, they made their way down into the Guild. Joey wasn't at all surprised that there were new apprentices, or that the descendants of team Poképals, a Mornferno and Prinplup (respectively) for that matter, so he just started leaning on the wall next to the Outlaw notice board.

"Grovyle, Celebi, it's good to have you back" a ghost-type said the moment they got back.

The trio instantly recognized him as Dusknoir, the agent who had, until the end, tried to prevent them from restoring time and was now the primary officer of the region along with his Sableye entourage.

"Good to see you to, Dusknoir" Grovyle nodded. "I hope everything has been going okay".

"Actually, it hasn't" Dusknoir said hesitantly. "You remember me telling you about those criminal groups before you left for the past?"

"Uh… Rouge Fire and Wild Wind" Celebi asked.

"Exactly" Dusknoir said. "For a while, they seemed to work independently of each other. But new information from the Sableye shows that they might be working together".

"Hmm… this is troubling" Grovyle said. "But let's not worry about that right now. Our new friend needs a place to stay".

"You mean the Lucario standing on the wall" Dusknoir asked.

"That's right" Grovyle said.

"Well, we'll need to set up something until better arrangements are made" Dusknoir said.

Dusknoir then went upstairs. Moments later, he came back down, leading a Riolu with him, whose first action was walking towards the far end of the room. The first thing the trio noticed about him was that his fur was a light gold.

"Who is he" Celebi asked.

"His name is Luca" Dusknoir said. "He's like that because… well, let's just say having a rough past would be an understatement".

Dusknoir then proceeded to tell the story. Apparently a group of Houndoom from that Rouge Fire group had viciously killed his parents and older brother a couple months ago. An exploration team had found him nearly dead in a forest not far from here a couple of days ago and had brought him to the Guild for treatment. He had been living at the Guild ever since.

"That's awful" Celebi gasped.

"It is" Dusknoir nodded. "Anyway, Luca has agreed to let Joey stay with him for the foreseeable future".

"That's good" Grovyle nodded.

**Nerio: Ugh… where are we?**

**Caster: I don't know. It sure is dark though.**

**Amy: Perfect. I trade one jail for another.**

**Nerio: I think I found the lights.**

**Dining room lights turn on**

**Amy: Nice place.**

**Caster: Yeah.**

**Me, Luca, and Joey walk in**

**Me: Well, it's about time you guys woke up. I was starting to think you were out cold.**

**Nerio: Why did you bring us here?**

**Joey: Because we were thinking that you guys would… what's the phrase… trade up.**

**Me: Yeah, I think everyone here knows that Bryce has pretty much lost his mind. Siding with me is the real logical choice for you guys. Besides, we're pretty much winning this little war.**

**Caster: Well sorry to ruin your time, but there's no way you'll make us turn on Bryce.**

**Me: Okay, but you do realize you're in a mansion, so if you change your minds, you know where to find me.**

**Amy: Wait, we're in a mansion?**

**Joey: Yeah.**

**Amy: All right, I'm in.**

**Caster: Me too.**

**Nerio: Guys.**

**Caster: Think about it. Bryce has pretty much gone too far off the deep end. It's better to side with this guy than fight against him.**

**Nerio: Well, there's no way I'm going to betray my friends.**

**Me: You know this remote can do anything, Nerio.**

**Nerio: Anything?**

**Me: Anything.**

**Nerio: Even find the best places to hang out.**

**Presses button, Awesome radar appears**

**Me: Yeah.**

**Nerio: All right. I'm in.**


	9. Gettin' around Again

_**At evil base…**_

**Handbag: Well, that's that plan bungled. Instead of trying to tear each other apart, Spartan and NITRO are now united with one purpose: to take my head!**

**Cortex: Well, there goes my plan to get the two smartest and grudge-holding authors to take each other out so I can destroy- wait, where were you when they found out?**

**Handbag: Bryce's place.**

**Cortex: And where were they when they found out?**

**Handbag: Bryce's place.**

**Nina: You idiot! You led them right to us!**

**Cortex: Relax Nina. There's no way they can get in. This fortress is impenetrable.**

**Wall blows open and me, Spartan, Eva, Caster, Rotom, Amy, Nerio, and Joey jump through**

**Me: It's payback time, suckas!**

**Handbag: Oh man, I forgot about the killer remote.**

**Spartan pulls out walkie-talkie**

**Nina: What's that for?**

**Spartan: This. **_**Oh Godzilla!**_

**I teleport everyone to safety as Godzilla destroys the base with his atomic breathe, killing Cortex, Nina, and Handbag**

**Everyone: BOOYAH!**

"Everyone, I'm sure you have noticed by now that we have a guest here with us today" Grovyle said to the group of apprentices as well as Luca. "This is Joey, a friend of ours who we have encountered recently and will be staying with us".

The group of apprentices looked at Joey, who in turn gave them a nervous smile assuring them that he was friendly.

"However we don't want you asking him any questions about his life" Grovyle continued. "He's having a bit of a memory problem right now, so we don't want any of you badgering him about it at this time. Understood?"

"Understood" the apprentices, except for Luca, who was somewhat uninterested in the briefing, said.

"Good, now to business at hand" Grovyle went on. "It has come to our attention that the criminal organizations Rouge Fire and Wild Wind might be working together. Officer Dusknoir has asked us to help him look into the matter while we go about our daily routines. So we ask you to look into the matter while you go about your work".

"All right everyone, let's not forget our morning cheers" Celebi said happily. "One".

"DON'T SHIRK WORK" the apprentices, including a reluctant Luca, chanted.

"Two" Celebi said.

"RUN AWAY AND PAY" the apprentices said.

"Three" Celebi said.

"SMILES GO FOR MILES" the apprentices said.

"All right, everyone, time to go to work" Celebi said, a smile forming on her face.

"HORRAY" the apprentices cheered.

The apprentices then scampered off to do whatever assignments they had. Luca, who had reluctantly joined the Guild at the request of Dusknoir to keep him from going after the Houndoom that had killed his family, immediately skulked off to a corner and just stayed there. Joey had found that, despite the number of times he tried to start a conversation, Luca wasn't a very receptive Pokémon and didn't really try to make friends with anyone.

"Ah, Luca" Celebi said, catching sight of the young Pokémon. "Could you show Joey around the facilities in Treasure Town?"

Luca let out a small grunt but didn't say no. He then motioned Joey to follow him. Apart from the Sentret and Furret that made up the sentry force that Joey had known belonged to Diglett and Loudred in the past, a Delibird had replaced Dugtrio as the job updater, a Chingling was now in charge of the Assembly and was the cook, a Murkrow was now in charge of Croagunk's old Swap Shop, and a Gible, Noctowl, and Roselia made up the exploring apprentices. Luca just grunted in the direction of each of them.

Luca then led Joey into Treasure Town and showed him the facilities there. Joey wasn't at all surprised that Spinda's Café was still there, as well as the Kecleon shops, Kangaskan Storage, and the Electivire Link Shop. However, the bank that had been run by Duskull was now run by a Gabite, the dojo was now owned by a Hariyama, a Blissey was now at the egg center, and a Mismagius was now in charge of the Appraisal shop. Again, Luca kept grunting in the direction of each of the places they saw.

Once both of them were back at the guild, Luca went back to the corner he was at earlier and just slouched there. Celebi noticed this and floated over to Joey.

"What wrong with him" she asked.

"The usual" Joey shrugged. "I'm sure he'll come out of it sooner or later".

_That night…_

Joey was sitting groggily in the multi-colored dreamscape again. There was no sign of anyone else so he knew that he was alone. Suddenly, a large shadow began to form behind him. He turned around to see Arceus fully forming in front of him.

"Good to see you again Joey" Arceus smiled.

"Likewise" Joey nodded. "Now can you please tell me why I'm here?"

"To help you regain your lost memories" Arceus said. "It seems that's your long-term memory was damaged when you made the trip to this world, and I've decided to help you".

There was a flash of light as Arceus disappeared. Joey was now sitting on what appeared to be a bench with Callie. Waves were pounding against the cliff as several Wingull and Pelipper flying above them.

"Isn't this exciting Joey" Callie asked as she leaned into her friend.

"I guess" Joey shrugged.

"You don't like oceans very much do you" Callie asked.

"Not really" Joey said. "Of course, seeing as the guy I was cloned from didn't like oceans too much, that's a no brainer".

"Do you know how the guy you were cloned from died" Callie asked.

"Not really" Joey said shaking his head. "It all happened so fast that he didn't know what was going on until it was too late".

"Well it's good that you know what happened" Callie sighed.

"Yeah well, there's not really that much for me to remember" Joey shrugged. "They just sorta happen in these brief flashes".

"Well, just figure out a little bit at a time" Callie said.

Joey put his arm around Callie and held her close, not wanting to let go for a long time.

"Dude… dude… DUDE" a voice suddenly called from nowhere.

Joey slowly opened his eyes to see Delibird, Gible, and Luca standing over him. He sighed and slowly pulled himself up to a more comfortable position.

"Come on, dude" Delibird was saying. "The morning briefing is about to start soon".

"OK, Delibird" Joey said as he got up to follow his new friends down the hall.

**Spartan: Dude that was hilarious, NITRO. We definitely got Handbag good.**

**Me: Yeah.**

**Eva: One question though. How in the Holy High Hell did you meet Godzilla?**

**Joey: We met the guy after he left the contract signing for his first movie in like 8 years.**

**Eva: That long?**

**Joey: Yeah.**

**Caster: I though the guy just destroys buildings and blows stuff up.**

**Joey: Only in the movies. Well anyway Godzilla said he was going to give us a ride back home and-**

**Cell phone rings**

**Me: Ugh. Hang on guys. Hello. What? You've gotta be kidding me! Well get it back! I don't care how idiot, just do it!**

**Spartan: What now NITRO?**

**Me: That idiot lawyer of ours sold our U.S. studio to Persians.**

**Joey: The fiends!**

**Nerio: Oh calm down dude. So the studio now belongs to some Persians. What's the big deal?**

**Me: What's the big deal!? Have you seen how Persians decorate dude? They will cover that place with cheesy blue carpeting, gold curtain rods, and white statues to the point that you will want to puke!**

**Amy: I feel nauseous already, dude.**

**Me: Well, those Persians aren't going to here the end of this. Come on guys. We have some plotting to do.**

**Me, Joey, and Luca walk off**

**Spartan: Well now that this insanity is taken care of, let's go home and look for the real Dingodile.**

**Caster: No way. We're following that guy.**

**Caster, Amy, and Nerio follow me**


	10. Departing Frenemies

**Me: And stay out you freaks! If I ever catch you in here again, I will kill you where you stand!**

**Door opens and several Persians run out**

**Amy: Wow, I didn't know you could get angry like that.**

**Caster: Yeah. I'm starting to think you're turning into Bryce.**

**Joey: Not likely. He just doesn't like it when someone messes with his stuff. It's one of those American boundary issue things.**

**Me: Oh man. They already started remodeling. Come on you guys. We have to refurbish the place before the show starts.**

**Nerio: This might take a while.**

_**Several hours and a lot of tearing and sledge hammering later…**_

**Me: I'm back!**

**Crowd: Hooray.**

**Me: Oh come on. Two and half weeks of being in another country and this is all I get?**

**Joey: Just goes to show how people take hot new talent seriously these days.**

**Crowd: Where are we anyway?**

**Giant hypno-screen comes down**

**Me: You are on the set of my story A Change in Destiny. You are all my slaves and will applaud for anything.**

**Crowd: Yes…**

**Me: Well, now that we're done here, let me introduce some friends of mine. First, these three have sided with me after that Handbag fiasco and will be helping me out for a while. Please welcome Caster, Amy, and Nerio.**

**Crowd: YAY!**

**Trio: All hail NITRO!**

**Crowd: YAY!**

**Me: Next, this guy is from my friend Swissigar's story Jacob's Adventure-**

**Crowd: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!**

**Caster: Shut up or I will eat your souls!**

**Crowd quiets**

**Nerio: Please welcome Typhlosion.**

**A Typhlosion walks out clutching its stomach**

**Typhlosion: Oh man. I knew I shouldn't have had those burritos for breakfast.**

**Joey: You ok dude?**

**Typhlosion: No.**

**Caster: What happened?**

**Typhlosion: Some of Swissigar's earlier O/Cs bet that I couldn't eat a bunch of breakfast burritos yesterday. I had been in the bathroom ever since.**

**Amy: That sucks dude. No wonder you had diarrhea.**

**Me: Well let's just get on with the story.**

Joey was starting to get a little annoyed with Luca's bad attitude. In the last few days, Celebi had asked him to help Luca with various small errands at the Guild and around Treasure Town. However, Luca's unwillingness to cooperate led to him doing it alone on more than one occasion. Joey didn't mind that part because he was helping his friends. It was just that Luca's uncaring demeanor was starting to get old.

Today had proven to be the same. Noctowl had asked the two of them to pick up a few items for him that he was expecting from his family while he was taking care of a job that wasn't far from the Guild. Once again, Luca went and stood at his usual corner when Noctowl's back was turned, forcing Joey to get the package from a Pelipper later that day. When he left Delibird, Noctowl, and Gible's room after dropping off the package, Luca brushed past him on his way to their room. Fed up with the way Luca was acting, Joey marched after him and whirled him around before he had any idea what was going on.

"Ok, what is your problem kid" Joey demanded. "I've had enough of your little attitude about everything. Not only are you not even trying to do anything, but the way you act around everyone is making everyone distrustful toward you. Seriously, what's your problem?"

Luca, slightly taken aback from the sudden turn of events, simply turned and walked toward the far end of the room.

"You know what, why am I even wasting my time talking to you" Joey asked rather sarcastically. "I don't even know why I had even tried to be friendly with you in the first place. I may not have any clue about my life, but the one thing I do know is that nobody's going to tell me or decide for me how I go through my business. If this is the attitude you want to have, then I'm not having anything to do with you".

With that, Joey turned around and marched out of the room. After everything that had transpired to him recently, he was not going to let someone who wouldn't do anything for himself hold him back.

_The next day…_

"Joey… Joey wake up" Roselia's voice said through Johnny's mind.

Joey slowly opened his eyes and saw Roselia and Chingling standing above him with worried expressions on their faces. He had asked both of them if he could bunk with them for a while, to which they said yes. However, he doubted that even they got up this early.

"What's going on" Joey moaned, rubbing his eyes of the remaining sleep.

"It's a Guild emergency" Chingling said. Come on".

Chingling grabbed Joey's paw and led him to the meeting chamber. He was surprised to see everyone else, including Dusknoir and the Sableye, were already there. Luca, unsurprisingly, was the only one not there, yet it seemed odd, considering that Luca at least had the decency to show up.

"Ok, can someone please tell me why I had been unceremoniously woken up so early" Joey yawned.

"Luca ran away" Dusknoir said.

An awkward silence was felt throughout the Guild when Dusknoir told everyone the news. Reactions seemed to run on both sides of the gamut. Celebi, Roselia, Chingling, Sentret, and Furret were shocked by the news, while Grovyle, Joey, Gible, Noctowl, Murkrow, and Delibird had looks of bittersweet relief.

"Well no one can say that Luca wasn't going to do that" Grovyle sighed.

"What do you mean" Celebi asked.

"From Luca's attitude the past couple of days, it didn't seem like he was really interested in being here" Grovyle explained.

"Well that's stupid" Celebi said. "Why would he leave when he and Joey were doing so well in their work?"

"I agree with Grovyle, Celebi" a somewhat put off Joey said. "I was the one who was really doing the work. All Luca did was just mope around the Guild all day".

"What" Celebi gasped.

"You know, it looked that way to me to Celebi" Furret said. "I never did see Joey with Luca that much".

The conversation was interrupted by two Sableye making their way down the ladder.

"Lord Dusknoir" the leader of the two said.

"What is it, Sableye" Dusknoir asked.

"We have the reports from the scout team" the leader said. "According to them, it appears that Luca is heading in the direction of Mystic Ravine".

"Mystic Ravine… oh no" Joey moaned.

"What is it" Dusknoir asked.

"I've been hearing rumors that a bunch of Houndoom from that Rouge Fire group were harassing the Pokemon there" Joey explained. "I wouldn't put it past Luca to think they're the ones who had killed his family".

"We have to stop him before he gets into trouble or does something he will regret" Celebi said quickly.

"Agreed" Grovyle nodded. "Joey, I need you to take Gible, Noctowl, and Roselia to catch up with Luca and stop the Houndoom".

Gible and Roselia nodded and made their way to the ladder. However, once they got there they realized that Noctowl and Joey weren't following them. When they turned around, they saw that both of them hadn't moved at all.

"What's going on, you guys" Grovyle asked.

"Well… we kind of agreed not to get involved with Luca" Joey said.

"Why" Grovyle asked.

"Because he was kind of a jerk" Noctowl said. "He had refused to retrieve a package from my family after he had promised. And quite honestly, I find that insulting".

"Guys, I know you have issues with Luca right now but you can't be critical of Luca" Celebi said. "He's been alone for most of his life. He has no one".

Joey and Noctowl looked at each other. They knew Celebi was right about Luca being alone. But they also knew that that was no excuse for him to act like a jerk.

"Fine" Joey said, turning back to Celebi. "We'll help him this time. Let's go you guys".

With that, Roselia, Gible, Noctowl, and Joey went up the ladder and left the Guild to handle their mission.

**Me: Well, things are definitely going to heat up in the story.**

**Caster: I know. Ah, Typhosion's better.**

**Typhlosion: Hey guys. I think I got the entire 'diarrhea' out of my system.**

**Amy: Yeah… were glad for you.**

**Me: Well, that's all the time we have right now, so until next time…**

**Everyone: Catch ya later, dudes!**

**Crowd: YAY! **


	11. Rumble in the Ravine

**Me: Ah, another good day here at the studio. Oh hey guys.**

**Amy: Hey NITRO. Got any plans today?**

**Me: Now that you mentioned it, yeah. I'm in the middle of preparing another Pokémon story and decided to take a page out of Bryce's book in order to help me get in the proper creating mood.**

**Caster: Oh don't tell me you're injecting yourself with that transformation serum.**

**Me: Actually yes. My psychiatrist said I need a lot of stimulants in order to think properly.**

**Amy: Psychiatrist?**

**Luca: Videogames.**

**Nerio: Wow, I didn't know you could talk.**

**Luca: Yeah, apparently NITRO here is finally going to give me some lines in the story.**

**Me: Can we get a move on here. ****(Pulls out syringe and jabs it in arm)**

**Joey: The changes should kick in after the chapter... you ok NITRO?**

**Me: KIGHURGAHURGA! Blarrghhhhh! (Collapses)**

**Joey: Uh… now what?**

**Caster: Just leave him there, dude.**

**Joey: Oh, and despite the new games coming out soon. This story is still based off the Gen. IV list. NITRO may add Pokémon from Gen. V, but that depends on his mood. Here are the levels of the other Pokemon allies in this chapter… and stuff.**

**Gible: Lv. 21**

**Dragon Rage**

**Take down**

**Sand Tomb**

**Hidden Power**

**Roselia: 33**

**Magical Leaf**

**Grasswhistle**

**Giga Drain**

**Aromatherapy**

**Noctowl: 38**

**Sky Attack**

**Air Slash**

**Zen Headbutt**

**Steel Wing**

**Riolu: 17**

**Aura Sphere**

**Quick Attack**

**Force Palm**

**Iron Tail**

Joey's feet were really starting to kill him. He had known that Mystic Ravine was considerably far from the Guild, it just seemed closer on the map. The group had to stop several times a day because, apart from Noctowl, their feet kept hurting. This kept them from making too much progress everyday and had to constantly access Kangaskan rocks just to restock.

Eventually they managed to reach the entrance of a vine-lined cave. Crystals lined the inside of the cave, which seemed to shine in a dazzling light from the sun. However, despite the beauty this place obviously had they could see several scorch marks lining the walls.

"Is this the place guys" Joey asked.

"Yes" Noctowl said. "This place is a haven for psychic types and any Pokémon that has any spiritual energy. It's also known as a place where bandits are unable to hide out in".

"How do you know so much about the place" Gible asked.

"I was born here Gible" Noctowl said in an annoyed tone.

"Well, if what you said is true, I can't imagine why those Houndoom chose to hide out here" Roselia said. "This seems like the type of place that bandits and criminals would want to avoid".

"Unless they wanted to be found" Joey said. "Whoever these guys are were expecting exploration teams to come after them. It also shows that these guys are strong if they're able to overpower the locals in a place like this".

"Do you think Luca's already made it here" Noctowl asked.

"Only one way to find out" Joey said. "Come on guys".

Joey led the group into the cavern to deal with their mission. The first thing he noticed was that the place seemed oddly humid. He had a strong suspicion that the Houndoom were making it that way to throw off any interference that came their way. They had to get to the end quickly and stop them.

"So how are we going to stop those Houndoom Joey" Gible asked. "That camouflage trick you did back in the past?"

"There's not enough cover in here for that to work" Joey said. "We're going to have to fight it out".

_Later, in another part of the ravine…_

"I told you, this is all we know" a weakened Bronzong said feebly to a pair of Houndoom standing in front of him.

"Liar" the Houndoom on the left, who was slightly larger than his counterpart, said. "We know full well you were the one who hid it".

"Easy Beta" the Houndoom on the right, who had a scar from an altercation a couple of weeks ago, said. "We know there are legends about a rare emerald somewhere in this ravine. We also happen to know that you came here to guard something very special decades ago. So why don't you save us the trouble and tell us where it is".

"And I told you everything I knew" the Bronzong said.

"Now can we kill him, Alpha" Beta asked gruffly.

"If you must, Beta" Alpha sighed.

Before either of them could make a move, another Houndoom came in, this one carrying a struggling Luca, who was bound up in ropes.

"Hey Alpha, you'll never believe who just showed up" The Houndoom said with a mad cackle.

"Ah yes, the avenger" Alpha said calmly. "The killer of killers. I thought we killed you weeks ago?"

"Well now we get to kill him again, bro" the new Houndoom cackled. "Especially after he gave you that beauty treatment the last time, huh".

"Shut up, Gamma" Beta growled.

Gamma dropped Luca and hastily backed into a corner of the cave.

"Well, you certainly have been a bothersome problem for us kid" Alpha said. "As much as I've enjoyed defeating you, I'm afraid this will be the last time. Beta, if you will".

Beta stepped forward and began charging up a Dark Pulse. Luca, whether out of pure instinct or blind luck, head butted him in the knee, causing the attack to create a hole in the ground, launch the outlaw several feet in the air before slamming into the ground, and send Luca sliding several feet on the crystal surface.

"Hmm… still a fighter as always" Alpha said with a satisfied smile. "I like that in my prey".

"Then you're going to love us" a voice said from out of nowhere. "Sky Attack!"

Noctowl suddenly dropped in out of nowhere and slammed into Alpha while covered in some bright light. Beta and Gamma tried to stop him but the others had already come in.

"Hidden Power" Gible yelled, sending egg-like spheres of energy at Gamma.

"Magical Leaf" Roselia yelled, launching glowing leaves at Gamma as well.

Both attacks collided with the weaker Houndoom, taking him out before he could do anything.

"Aura Sphere" Joey yelled, flooring the tougher one with a single energy blast.

With their enemies subdued, Joey went to untie Luca while Gible, Roselia, and Noctowl went to help Bronzong.

"Are you all right, Lord Bronzong" Noctowl asked.

"I'm all right, Noctowl" Bronzong said.

"Good to see that, sir" Noctowl said.

Their attention was distracted by a loud growl. Luca had broken free from Joey and was now standing on top of Alpha, an Aura Sphere of his own charged up.

"Well, well, taking a page out of our book, huh" Alpha smirked. "I don't really blame you. I would've done the same thing f I were you. Do it".

"Luca, listen to me" Roselia said. "You are not a killer. I know what these guys have done to your family, but killing them won't make them come back".

"Shut up" Luca yelled. "You don't know what it's like to have everything you held dear taken away from you! None of you do!"

"All right" Joey said calmly. "You're right. We don't. But picture it like this: you make the kill. But the pain doesn't stop with their deaths and just grows. So you go out into the night to take another life. And another. And another. Until one day you wake up and realize killing's become your whole life. And you won't know why".

"Please" Alpha laughed. "Don't give us one of those gay little speeches. The kid knows what he's doing. I'll see you in hell".

Luca stood there for a while, torn about what to do. Making up his mind, he threw the Aura Sphere he had charged up into the wall, leaving a sizeable crater. Everyone stared at the young Riolu.

"I'd rather see you behind bars" Luca growled.

Alpha let out a groan and slumped to the ground in a faint. The others let out a collective sigh of relief. Luca smiled at his friends.

"Thanks for believing in me you guys" he said.

"Well it certainly seems like everyone is happy" Bronzong said.

The group smiled at the old Pokémon and nodded. However, there was one thing Gible didn't get.

"Hey Bronzong, what were those guys after anyway" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much" Bronzong shrugged. "Just an emerald at the far end of the ravine".

The others looked at each other and decided not to investigate the matter further.

**I'm now a Zoroark**

**Me: *yawn* Hey guys, did it work?**

**Joey: Yeah, it did. Well at least you can talk properly offstage. I don't want to think about what would happen if you started speaking telepathically.**

**Amy: Yeah. Especially when you talk in your sleep.**

**ME: What?**

**Amy: Nothing**

**Caster: Well at least you are updating now, but how do you plan to type with Paws**

**Me: Quite simple really. Zoroark's hands are close enough to a human's that I can still type freely.**

**Caster: Oh.**

**Me: Well now that we're done with the story, I'm going to bed. I'm still a bit burnt from the transformation. So until next time…**

**Everyone: Catch ya later, dudes!**


	12. Returning Home

**A/N: the events in the next few pre and post- chapter stuff will be on a different timeline**

_**At winter retreat in Canada…**_

**Serenity: Thanks a lot NITRO.**

**Me: No problem.**

**Serenity looks out window, sees others and giant snowman**

**Serenity: What are you guys doing? That's incredible.**

**Luca: We're building an oversized snowman.**

**Serenity: That's amazing. Wait there! I want to get a shot.**

**Serenity leaves window**

**Caster: He is going to murder us.**

**Serenity comes out with camera**

**Serenity: Everyone get in front.**

**Caster: Come on guy. Get in front.**

**Amy and Nerio get in front, Serenity takes picture**

**Serenity: That was great, guys.**

**Amy: Yeah. Now move your car so we can plow the rest of the driveway.**

**Serenity: Where is my car?**

**Luca: Uh, did it look something like this?**

**Luca takes shovel and scrapes snow off car window**

**Serenity: Oh my God, you've gotta be kidding me? Where's NITRO? Did he have something to do with this?**

**Serenity runs into the studio**

**Joey: Wait up!**

_**Inside…**_

**Serenity: NITRO!**

**Me: What now dude?**

**Serenity: Your friends just made a snowman out of my car.**

**Me: They're not my friends.**

**Serenity: I can't deal with this. I have things to do today.**

**Luca: Hey… this is taking way too long.**

**Serenity: Why would you guys build a snowman out of my car?**

**Joey: It's winter. You gotta do winter things.**

**Serenity: Well thank God winter is almost over.**

**Me: Uh… I think Punxsutawney Phil gets to decide that one dude. Groundhog Day's coming up.**

**Luca: Groundhog Day!**

**Me: Yo Joey, how far is it from here?**

**Joey: About 5 hours.**

**Me: Well, let's go to Punxy.**

After taking longer than they had just getting to the ravine, Joey, Luca, and the others finally made it back home to Treasure Town. A group of Sableye had picked up the Houndoom brothers before they had left, meaning that they were now being interrogated by Dusknoir. The group didn't really care about that at the moment. The only thing they were concerned about right now was getting back to the Guild so they can get some well deserved rest.

Celebi was well beyond ecstatic when they got back, immediately flying over and giving Luca a huge hug just as they got down to the second floor. Luca gave one of his usual grunts and squirmed his way out of her grip to head toward his room.

"Same old Luca" Joey laughed, following him to the room as well.

They both got there at the same time and went to their respective beds. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Joey decided to break the silence.

"Hey Luca, are you still ok about what happened at the ravine" he asked.

"Joey, this is the fifth time you've asked that stupid question" Luca grunted. "I'm fine".

"Just checking" Joey said.

Joey had asked that question several times for a reason. Ever since they had left Mystic Ravine, Luca had seemed distant… well, more distant than normal. Joey had this gut feeling Luca wasn't telling him everything.

"Hey Joey, thanks for sticking up for me back at the ravine" Luca said. "It's nice to know that someone whose life is still intact cares about what happened to me".

"Well, to tell you the truth my life's been ruined to" Joey shrugged. "At least I think it is. I'm kinda having a hard time telling what's what anymore".

"I see" Luca said. "Well, I guess this is why we had become friends: to help each other out".

"Really" Joey said, eyebrows rising.

"Yeah" Luca nodded. "My parents always had a saying that no matter how random things are, nothing happens by chance. I use to think that was just a gag line to keep me out of trouble".

"I bet it was" Joey laughed. "Well, it's getting late dude. We'd better get some sleep if we're going to deal with the Guild training".

"Right" Luca nodded, turning onto his shoulder to attempt to get into a more comfortable position like he always did.

_In dream…_

Joey was back in the dreamscape again. It didn't take long for Arceus to appear, and when he did, Joey was actually glad to see him.

"It's been a while" Arceus said.

"Yeah" Joey nodded. "How long is this memory going to last?"

"This one is actually pretty short" Arceus laughed. "And from what I've seen, it's actually pretty funny".

With that, a white flash lit the area. The scenery shifted to where Joey and Callie were now standing outside of the lab.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this Callie" Joey asked.

"Absolutely" Callie said happily. "There's no way I'm going to sit back and let you have all the fun while trying to find out who you were cloned from".

"What about your dad" Joey asked.

"Oh, he'll be fine" Callie laughed. "He'll just slow us down with his dullness".

This got a little laugh out of Joey as the both of them left the lab.

_Meanwhile…_

Bronzong was passed out in a corner of the ravine. The Pokémon that had defeated him was now making his way down a hidden passageway at the far end of the cave. Reaching the end, he entered a secluded cave at the far end of the ravine. At the end, floating between a bunch of stalagmites was a glowing green rock.

"I finally found it- the Emerald of Knowledge" it said in a deep voice. "But… this is only the first of many".

**Me, Joey, Luca, Caster, Amy, Nerio, and the Wild Force at Punxsutawney, PA.**

**Mayor: Are you ready for Groundhog's Day**

**Crowd: YEAH!**

**Handler takes out Punxsutawney Phil from hollow**

**Jolt: Dude, he just pissed all over the Handler's arm.**

**Handler: "I'm sorry to say that I see my shadow today".**

**Me: We just found out that there's going to be six more weeks of winter! Rumble… would you rather it be spring or winter!?**

**Rumble: Spring!**

**Rumble gets bitch slapped**

**Me: Wrong answer!**

**Blaze: That's just mean.**

**Glacis: Yeah.**

**Crowd begins to disperse**

**Me: Wait a minute Rumble. I don't think we heard you. Rumble, would you rather it be spring or winter?**

**Rumble: Spring.**

**Rumble gets kicked in the gut**

**Me: Wrong answer! We need to do things in the spirit of winter!**

**A/N: I have a new ****Pokémon story, a kind of sub-story related to it, and a new poll. CHECK THEM OUT!**


	13. TipOff

**Serenity and Quilava sitting on the couch**

**Me: Uh-Huh!**

**Serenity: Hey, you're back. How was ****Punxsutawney?**

**Me: I don't know. Let's ask Phil about it. ****Hey Phil, how was ****Punxsutawney?**

**Amy: (high voice) well, there's going to be six more weeks of winter. Oh! Time to shit and piss all over the Handler's arm.**

**Me: Dude, Phil did his business all over the Handler.**

**Serenity: Yay.**

**Me: Well Serenity… six more weeks of winter. That means six more weeks of fun.**

**Serenity: Well regardless of your furry friend, there's no way I can handle six more weeks of this nonsense.**

**Me: Fine. We'll do it in one weekend. How does that sound?**

**Serenity: I didn't mean it like that.**

**Me: So we're having a downhill race in honor of Punxsutawney Phil. Phil, what do you think about that?**

**Blaze: (high voice) hey, who wants to smell my acorn breath?**

**Me: Sounds like Phil's cool with that.**

**Jolt: Hey, do you mind if we play at the race?**

**Me: Not at all. What do you think, Serenity?**

**Serenity: I don't care what you do. Just don't put any more snow on my car.**

**Me: Deal. All right let's go pack**

_**An hour later…**_

**Me: According to my calculations, my winter retreat isn't big enough to hold the fun we're trying to do. We decided to go to the Bear Creek lodge to make it work.**

**Joey: And we're bringing Serenity and Quilava with us whether they like it or not!**

"What do you means Bronzong was attacked" a shocked Noctowl asked.

"That's all we know" Monferno said. "According to the report from the Sableye, an unknown Pokémon slipped into the cave, knocked out Bronzong, and ran off carrying something that was glowing green".

The Guild, along with Joey, was standing at the Underground level where the apprentices worked. They had just received word that Bronzong had been soundly defeated and that the emerald that had been in the back of the ravine had been stolen as well. Everyone was speculating about who the attacker was and what was going to happen now.

"Did anyone get a good look at the thief" Celebi asked.

"No" Prinplup said. "From what we we're told, the thief was moving too fast for anyone to keep track of. By the time they were aware that something was going on, the thief had already gone too far for them to follow".

"Hmm… this is perplexing" Grovyle said. "How can anyone steal an emerald that fast that nobody could realize a theft was occurring".

"It must have been an ally of those Houndoom brothers" Joey said.

"What do you mean" Grovyle asked.

"Think about it" Joey said. "Whoever had sent those Houndoom in there the first time had to have known they would fail. Then, once we had left, it when in to finish the job".

"Now that I think about it, Bronzong was getting very old" Noctowl said. "It wouldn't be surprising that someone was able to knock him out that quickly".

"So, what do we do now" Sentret asked.

"Well, obviously we can't do anything right now" Grovyle said. "As much as we would like to prevent this from getting out of hand, we have too little information to go on. We therefore request that you ask around while you go about your duties today".

After the usual morning cheers, most of the apprentices went off to work on their normal routine. Joey and Luca, who had only formed a team of their own team just yesterday, didn't know what they were expected to do.

"Ah, there you are" Celebi said. "I have a job for you two. I need you to go to Luminous Spring to get some information from a contact".

"Spiritomb" Luca asked.

Joey didn't like the sound of that. According to Grovyle, Spiritomb, a Pokémon that was apparently made from a bunch of vengeful spirits, had a bit of an aggressive side and didn't like anyone disrupting it.

"Exactly" Celebi said. "Spiritomb contacted us the other day and said he had some information he wanted to pass to us. However, knowing him, he probably will have something cooked up. Therefore, Grovyle and I have decided that you should have this".

Celebi handed them a treasure box. Joey figured that whatever was inside it had to be important.

"Thanks Celebi" Luca said.

Without missing a beat, Luca grabbed Joey's paw and led him into Treasure Town. In no time at all, they had arrived at the appraisal shop.

"Welcome to Mismagius' Appraisal" the ghost said happily.

"We know, we know" Luca said hurriedly. "Can we get this appraised already?"

"Of course" Mismagius nodded. "That'll be 150 Poké".

As Luca handed over the money, Mismagius used her powers to make the box float in the air. After a quick flash, it disappeared, leaving an oddly shaped ring behind.

"Wow… it's an Emit Ring" Luca said in awe.

"Emit Ring" Joey asked.

"Yeah" Luca nodded. "This'll help us deal with Ghost Types… no offense".

_Later…_

Joey and Luca had been walking through the forest that led to the spring where Spiritomb supposedly was. They met little resistance from the native Pokémon, making it easy for them to get through. Joey had been wondering what Spiritomb was going to do once they got there.

They eventually made their way to a large clearing. A large pond was right in the middle of the area. The only other thing that was there was a small Keystone that was right in front of them.

"So what do we do now" Luca asked.

Joey said nothing. After a while, he took a step closer to the Keystone.

"Why have you come here" a voice said out of nowhere. "This is our territory".

"Were from the Guild" Joey said. "Celebi said you had some information for us".

"Ah yes, she did tell us you were coming" the voice said again. "We're sure you're already aware that the emerald that was at the ravine".

"Yeah" Joey said. "Now what's this information Celebi said you had for us?"

"But first, show your face to us" Luca said. "It's creepy talking to a rock".

"KEYSTONE" the voice yelled.

"Whatever" Luca said.

With a sigh, a purple shadow with green marking and a spiral in its left eye popped out of the Keystone.

"Well, we don't exactly who took the emerald" Spiritomb said. "But we do know is that some of those goons from that Wild Wind group are after something in another place related to Mystic Ravine".

"Another place" Joey muttered. "Where might that be?"

"The Forest of the Seven Wind" Spiritomb said.

"Hmm… why does that sound familiar" Joey said.

"Well, at any rate, we know what their next move is" Luca said, "Thanks for the help, Spiritomb".

"No problem" Spiritomb said.

**Group pulls up to lodge, everyone goes inside**

**Clerk: Can I help you?**

**Me: Yes. I'd like two rooms please.**

**Serenity: Hold on… YOU DIDN'T PLAN AHEAD?**

**Me: I never plan ahead.**

**Clerk: Well, we have two adjoining room set up if you want them.**

**Me: Perfect. We'll take 'em.**

**Serenity: Adjoining? I don't like the sound of this one.**

**Everyone goes to rooms; me, Serenity, Quilava, Amy, Luca, and Rumble go in second room**

**Quilava: Dude, this place is tiny.**

**Amy flies to top of HD TV**

**Amy: Hey look. I'm on TV.**

**Me: All right ladies, meet me on the big hill in half an hour.**


	14. Forest Fight

_**At big hill…**_

**Luca: We've gotta make this thing huge dude.**

**Me: Where are we gonna put the stage so we can hear these guys play on the way down? *points to Wild Force***

**Caster: How about… in the middle of the hill.**

**Nerio: That sounds like a lot of work.**

**Me: Serenity, you're decorating. Hometown flare. And we don't like snow work. We like snow fun.**

**Serenity: On it.**

**Me: And you have to build the stage.**

**Serenity: Fine, but you're helping. *grabs Amy***

**Amy: Blah, blah, blah. That stage is only a phone call away.**

**Serenity: Yeah, well that phone call better be made RIGHT NOW!**

"What the- what does my home have to do with this?" Roselia asked.

"Well, apparently that's where a bunch of Wild Wind goons are headed," Luca said

Joey and Luca had just come back and explained to everyone what Spiritomb had said. While most of them were shocked about where the Wild Wind thugs were going, none of them were as upset as Roselia, whose home, The Forest of the Seven Wind, was a peaceful place that rarely had any incidences of violence. Now it seemed that there was trouble.

"We'll it certainly is worrisome that Wild Wind would do something like this," Grovyle said. "We definitely have to stop them before they carry out their plans".

"I'll go" Roselia said. "Those Wild Wind thugs are going to attack my home. I can't let them go through with this".

"Very well" Grovyle said. "Since you feel so strongly about it, we'll let you deal with it, Roselia".

"Thank you, Guildmaster" Roselia said.

"All right, that's it for the briefing" Celebi said. "Let's buck up and get back to our daily routines".

"HORRAY" the apprentices cheered.

The other apprentices went off to work on their normal duties, leaving Joey, Luca, and Roselia the only ones who hadn't left yet.

"Joey, Luca, since you two were the ones who had let me know of what is going to happen to my home, I would be honored if you would help me deal with this crisis," Roselia said.

"No problem," Luca said.

_Several days later…_

After several long days of hiking, the group finally made it to the entrance of a vast forest. Stepping in the shade of the first few trees, Joey felt an overwhelming wave of calmness enter into his body. For the first time since he could honestly remember, he felt completely happy.

"Peaceful isn't it?" Roselia asked.

"I know," Joey said. "I don't think I've ever felt this happy before".

"It's a natural reaction," Roselia said. "The Forest of the Seven Wind is known as a haven for those who are under a lot of stress and are looking for a happier life".

At that moment the peacefulness was interrupted by several loud explosions coming from the far end of the forest.

"What was that?" Roselia asked.

"Whatever it was, it didn't sound good," Joey said. "We have to get to the deepest part of the forest now!"

_Later, at the deepest part of the forest…_

Everything was in utter chaos. Pokémon of different kinds were running around in sheer panic. At the center of the crown were a group of large, ball-like Pokémon that were surrounding a white/green Pokémon whose elbows were extended to look like swords.

"I don't know why all you Electrode are here, but I can't allow you to get away with disrupting the peace of this place," the Pokémon said.

"Save the petty speeches for later, Gallade" one of the Electrode said. "We outnumber you four to one, so you have no chance to beat us".

"Then why don't we even the odds." a voice said from out of nowhere. "Magical Leaf."

Roselia appeared out of nowhere and subdued the electrode that was threatening Gallade. Joey and Luca came in shortly afterward, launching side by side Aura Spheres to take out the remainder of the grunts.

"Are you all right, Gallade?" Roselia asked.

"Yeah… I'll be fine," Gallade said. "It's a good thing you and your friends showed up when you did Roselia. At my age, I doubt I'd be able to stand much of a chance against those thugs".

"You probably wouldn't," Luca said. "They're part of a tight knit group of thieves calling themselves Wild Wind. An informant of ours told us that they were coming here because of some sort of similarity to a place called Mystic Ravine."

"Gallade, is there something here that would be valuable to anyone who finds it?" Joey asked.

Before Gallade could say anything, three figures flew out from the threes. All three of them seemed to be clad in metal and had blades where wings would be. The one in the center was the strangest of all, as it was a tan color with green blades. Joey immediately recognized them as Skarmory, though he couldn't remember how he knew this.

"So you must be the Pokémon who gave our friends from Rogue Fire some difficulty," the tan Skarmory smirked. "Well you're too late this time. We've already collected the Ruby of Spirit, so there's no reason for us to be here any longer".

With that remark, Joey noticed that the Skarmory that had insulted them was carrying a light red ruby in one of her talons.

"You can't do that," Gallade shouted. "The Ruby of Spirit is a priceless treasure of this place! I won't let you take it!"

"We'll see about that," the Skarmory laughed. "All right sisters… Metal Voice!"

At the same time, all three Skarmory emitted a noice that sounded like scraping steel. Everyone had to cover their ears just to block out the bulk of the noise. When it subsided, the Skarmory were gone, while the Electrode were still out cold.

"Where are they?" Roselia asked.

"They must have used the confusion to escape" Luca said.

"With the Ruby of Spirit gone… I wonder what will happen next" Joey said,

"Well, there's no point in worrying about that now," Gallade said. "Get some rest. Tomorrow the three of you can return to the Guild so you can figure out what to do next".

_That night…_

After struggling to get to sleep that night, Joey ended up back in the dreamscape. After a while, Arceus appeared before him.

"Your journey is taking you far, young Joey," the Pokémon said.

"Yeah." Joey nodded. "It's too bad me and my friends were unable to stop the Ruby of Spirit to be stolen".

"Yes, that is… most unfortunate" Arceus said. "But let's not worry about that now. This next memory is rather interesting, and I'm sure you'll be rather surprised when you see it".

With that, another flash appeared and Joey and Callie were standing alone in a graveyard. A tombstone bearing the name Ryan was directly in front of them.

"So this is where he was buried, huh?" Joey asked.

"Yeah," Callie said. "It was so hard to hear that he had died".

"Are you sure your contact is going to meet us here?" Joey asked. "It's been almost fifteen minutes and I'm starting to lose patience here".

"If you've been waiting that long then I sincerely apologize for being late" a voice said.

Joey and Callie immediately turned around. A figure was standing in the shadow of a tree. However, its features were completely obscured, making it impossible to tell what he looked like.

"Who are you?" Joey asked.

"I don't intend to tell you who I am just yet," the figure said. "I will tell you that I'm just like you, Joey: a creature created from the DNA of another trying to find his place in the world".

"A clone," Joey said.

"Exactly," the figure said. "I'm here to help you find out about who you were cloned from".

"You will?" Joey asked.

"Yes, I will," the figure said. "Come. We have a lot to discuss".

_Meanwhile…_

"That was the easiest job we've ever done" the tan Skarmory laughed.

The three Skarmory were flying through the air, the ruby still in the tan one's grip. They were miles away from the hideout and were pretty happy to hear what the boss would say when he found out that one of the gems was in their possession.

"The three of us have never been defeated yet," one of the normal Skarmory said. "And we never will!"

"As long as the Skarmory Sisters stay together, there's nothing that we can't do," the other Skarmory said.

"I can think of a few things," a voice said.

From below them, an Aura Sphere shot out of nowhere, slamming into the tan Skarmory. The explosion caused her to drop the ruby, allowing a blue light to envelope it and carry it into the clouds.

"FIND IT!" the tan Skarmory screamed.

The two others began diving in and out of the clouds. After a while they resurfaced and flew to their sister.

"It's gone," one of them said. "Whoever took the ruby from us is gone".

The tan Skarmory's face turned from anger to one of utmost dread. Exactly what their boss would say when he found out that they failed, she did not want to know.

_**At lodge restaurant…**_

**Me: Serenity, what did you get for hometown flare?**

**Serenity: I took a picture of it on my cell phone. Check it out you guys**

**Serenity shows picture.**

**Jolt: A moon bounce?**

**Serenity: What? It looks like a castle**

**Me: … I like it. Just like home. Stage?**

**Amy: Completed to rock.**

**Me: All right guys, tomorrow we are racing on the big hill. Blaze- you're announcing.**

**Blaze: Fine whatever.**

**Me: Quilava, you're judging tomorrow. What do you want for breakfast?**

**Quilava: I want-**

**Me: Screw what you want. We're having a big downhill race tomorrow and you're worried about food?**

**Rumble: Oh dude, you just got burned.**

**Me: ok, wrap this up you guys. I'm gonna get some sleep. I've got a race I'm gonna win tomorrow.**

**A/N: the figure in the memory and the one that took the two gems is the same person... or Pokémon. A cookie to anybody who can somehow figure out who this mystery Pokémon is. Hint: think Joey but a whole lot earlier.**


	15. Connections

**A/N: after this chapter it'll be back to normal**

_**At race site…**_

**Blaze: Welcome everybody. I'm Blaze and I'll be announcing the Punxsutawney Phil downhill race. Let's check in with NITRO and get a status report.**

**Me: All right guys, we have lanes; we have flare… its pretty much time to die now.**

**Blaze: Loyal fans have showed up to support NITRO and the guys. All right, let's meet the idiots. In lane 1, we have the cool one, NITRO PSYCHO, in his Gorilla Thrilla sled.**

**Me: I wanna get gnarly.**

**Blaze: In lane 2, it's Rumble, rough and tough; ready to hit the frozen section in the Shopping Cart of Shame.**

**Rumble: I don't see anything good coming from this at all.**

**Blaze: Next in lane three it's Nerio and his Dumb Bike.**

**Nerio: This is 150 lbs. of pure muscle and steel right here.**

**Blaze: Coming in lane 4, it's Joey, the fan favorite, coming on his downhill racer of comfort, the Park-a-Lounger.**

**Joey: I am not excited about this.**

**Blaze: Rounding out the pack, it's Luca on his magical Zorse of course.**

**Luca: Let's just get this over with.**

**Nerio: Hey sissy, you're going down.**

**Blaze: Tension's thick as the racers move into positions. Riders are lined up at the gate waiting for the signal.**

**Jolt: 3… 2… 1… GO!**

**Racers jump off**

**Blaze: And the riders mount their sleds and are off and running. And out of the gate it's Luca, followed by Rumble and Nerio. Joey staying close behind… oh and coming in last is NITRO and the gorilla. This is anyone's race. Nerio's picking up speed… oh and he is down. Joey jumps into first-almost loses control. NITRO's pulling up with Luca not far behind. Oh, and Joey bit it hard. NITRO's in the lead followed by Luca pumping hard. And here comes Rumble out of nowhere. It's going to be close. Oh and the Zorse goes down. Luca's out of the race. In the final stretch it's Rumble and NITRO. Uh oh, Rumble's in trouble. NITRO's losing speed- oh and he's down. And the winner is Rumble… oh and he takes a winners plunge!**

**Luca: Ha… taint so bad is it?**

**Quilava: Officially Rumble was the only one to cross the finish line.**

**Joey: Oh come on! He was losing the whole time!**

**Quilava: He was losing 90% of the time, but he came through in the end.**

**Rumble: I won NITRO. Now where's my prize?**

**Me: You wanna know what your prize is?**

**Rumble: Of course I do.**

**Rumble gets kicked in the knads**

**Serenity: That's just mean.**

**Blaze: Why can't you have like a normal prize for once?**

**Me: Who the hell wants a normal prize? Just pick up tubsy-ubsy over here and start rocking.**

Joey, Luca, and Roselia were tired when they got back to the Guild. Gallade had sent word ahead of them that the Ruby of Spirit had been stolen in the hopes that they would at least start formulating some sort of plan on what to do next.

"Welcome home," Grovyle said. "I'm sorry to hear that your mission ended in failure. However we do have a plan as to where they will strike next".

"Already?" Joey asked.

"Yes," Grovyle said, "According to Gible, his home, Mt. Draco, has always been the source of legends and mysteries. From what we understand, there have been rumors of a prized pearl in the deepest heart of it. Gible claims that the elder there had asked him to come train at the Guild so he could guard something. We were hoping the two of you would go with him in order to go with them in order to investigate this claim".

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Joey said. "I'm not doing anything until I get some answers".

"Me to," Luca said.

"What do you mean?" Grovyle asked.

"Think about it," Joey said. "Don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that three Pokémon who come from places that have special gems in them enrolled at the Guild at the same time all of these occurrences start happening?"

"You know now that I think about it, they did come join the Guild at the same time," Celebi said.

"Yeah… that does seem a little strange," Grovyle said.

The Guild started muttering to each other about this string of occurrences. The only one who weren't talking were Gible, Roselia, and Noctowl, who were all exchanging nervous looks at each other.

"Guys… is there something you're not telling us?" Grovyle asked.

"All right you guys… confession time" Noctowl said. "The truth is we didn't come here to become explorers. We came here because the elders of our homes had asked us to get help in protecting the gems from Rogue Fire and Wild Wind".

"They had been receiving threats that they would be coming to steal the gems from each place," Roselia said. "There were five in all: The Emerald of Wisdom, The Ruby of Spirit, The Pearl of Willpower, The Sapphire of Trust, and Legends Diamond".

"The Sapphire of Trust was located in your home, Luca." Gible said, much to the young Pokémon's shock. "However that elder had died before he could send his selection over. Therefore the sapphire is vulnerable to attack".

"I see," Grovyle said. "Well it seems like we'll need to come up with a new plan. In the meantime, I want all of you to prepare for missions to protect the gems at these places from any threats".

"Understood," the apprentices said.

_That night…_

"I can't believe those three have been deceiving us all this time," Luca said.

"Luca calm down," Joey said. "It's not that big of a deal".

"Not that big of a deal?" Luca angrily asked. "You'd appreciate it if people you knew told you there was some sort of special gem in your home".

"Well, obviously they assumed you knew." Joey shrugged.

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Luca sighed.

"Psst… Joey… Luca," a voice hissed.

Turning toward the door, the two of them saw that Monferno and Prinplup were standing at the doorway, both looking a little bit anxious.

"Hey guys," Luca said.

"Shh… not so loud," Monferno said. "Noctowl, Roselia, and Gible would like to have a word with you two".

Interested in what was going on, the two of them followed their friends out of the Guild, through Treasure Town, and into Sharpedo Bluff. Noctowl, Roselia, and Gible were already there, and they were whispering to each other.

"Joey, Luca," Noctowl said.

"Were sorry we've brought you out here this late in the day," Roselia said.

"It's no big deal," Joey said. "Monferno said you guys had something to tell us".

"Yes," Noctowl said. "Please sit down. Monferno, Prinplup, you can go back to the Guild".

The two of them nodded and went up the stairs out of the dwelling. Joey and Luca, confused about what was going on, immediately sat down.

"What we have to tell you two may be beyond your belief," Noctowl said. "But it is also the truth. You must promise you won't tell anyone this unless it's absolutely necessary".

"Sure," the two of them said.

"Okay… we believe Joey was sent to this world in order to save it," Roselia said."

"What-why?" Joey asked.

"Because everyone in town and the Guild knows that you might be human," Roselia said.

"Hold on," Luca interrupted. "When did we agree that Joey might be human?"

"I was talking about it the first day I was here," Joey said. "Remember? Everyone was asking me those questions over dinner".

"Oh yeah, that's right," Luca muttered. "But that doesn't matter. Since when have you three become experts on humans? Have you ever seen one?"

"No, but there has been records of humans coming to this world for thousands of years," Gible said. "You see, while it is true that it's natural to see Pokémon in this world, humans are really rare. Nobody knows where they come from or how they get here, but they do".

"The first known human to come to our world was about 1000 years ago," Noctowl went on. "That human was chosen by the spirits to stop a meteor that would have destroyed the world otherwise. Since then, there has been records of humans coming to our world to stop catastrophes from occurring, the last known being Prinplup's ancestor".

"But what does this have to do with me though?" Joey asked.

"Whenever humans appear in history they usually come to save the world," Noctowl said. "Usually in the form of a Pokémon with amnesia."

The two looked at each other, unsure how to take this information in. Sure it was odd that humans have been coming to this world before, but to think that they always herald some sort of disaster. They didn't understand any of this.

**I'm working out**

**Jolt: 36… 37… we said 40, baby… 39…40 *get's punched in the knads* oh!**

**Serenity walks in**

**Serenity: Why are there shovels in the house?**

**Amy: 'Cause we were working.**

**Serenity: That's a first. I'm heading to the market.**

**Me: Serenity's not gonna like this very much.**

**Group heads outside, Serenity opens car door, sees snow in car**

**Serenity: You promised me no more snow on my car!**

**Amy: It's in it, not on it.**

**Serenity: Every time I go somewhere, it's like a nightmare!**

**Me: All right, I'll help.**

**Serenity: Oh, you'll help? I'm sure it's gonna be something destructive.**

**Starts shoveling snow out, then puts it back in**

**Serenity: Stop putting it in! Screw this. I'm calling a cab.**

**Caster: There's no cab companies out here.**

**Serenity: I'm calling the purple cab company!**

**Amy: There's no such thing as a purple cab company.**

**Me: You know what; this is taking way too long. I'm just waiting 'til spring.**

**Serenity comes out with Lambo**

**Serenity: There's no purple cab company. Hahahahaha.**

**Me: Get out of there!**

**Serenity drives off**

**Blaze: Dude, you just got carjacked!**

**Me: I was gonna throw a snowball at him, but then I realized it was mine!**

**A/N: Remember, whoever guesses the mystery figure right gets a cookie.**


	16. a Mountain of Troubles

**Joey: Hey Caster, have you seen NITRO? The show's about to start soon.**

**Caster: I think he's asleep in his room.**

**Joey: Still? Doesn't he realize it's been three months since he did a show?**

**Caster: Yeah. But don't worry. I've sent up a wakeup call.**

_**In room…**_

**Nerio: Wake up, NITRO! The show's about to start.**

**Pulls curtains open**

**Me: Ugh… don't you know Dark-Types are nocturnal?**

**Nerio: Come on, NITRO. You have to get ready before the show starts.**

**Me: It starts when I say it starts.**

**Nerio sees killer remote, presses button, I get shocked by ghetto defibrillator**

**Me: Ugh… no one knows how to wake me up quite like you, Nerio.**

**Nerio: Yeah, yeah. Just get down to the stage.**

"Gible, how much farther until we got to this tunnel of yours?" Luca whined. "My feet are falling asleep".

"Luca, shut up," Gible snapped. "You've been complaining about the same thing for the past hour".

Joey had to admit that Luca was right. They had been walking for what seemed like hours through a rather large mountain range that apparently led to Mt. Draco. However, the longer they hiked through the mountains, the farther away the place seemed to be.

"Luca has a point, dude," Joey said. "When you said your home was far away, you didn't say that it was this far".

"Joey, I keep telling you that this place is hard to reach unless you have a strong will," Gible retorted. "Besides, we're already at the entrance to the cave".

Sure enough, a cave leading into the mountain came up right in front of them. It wasn't hard to see why the Pearl of Willpower was hidden here.

"Do you think any of those thugs are already in there?" Gible asked.

"I'd bet money on that," Joey said. "If you've built up as much momentum as those criminals have, you tend to get a little overconfident".

_Later, in the deepest part of the cave…_

"Will you hurry it up," a Toxicroak yelled to its partner, another Toxicroak. "This old dude won't stay down".

"Settle down, bro," the other Toxicroak yelled back. "This isn't as easy as it looks".

The pair of Toxicroak was working on a job given to them by their boss. One was trying to get a pearl at the far end of the cave while the other one was dealing with the Dragonite that was guarding it. However, the pearl was encompassed by a thick wall of stalagmites, making it difficult to reach. On top of that, the Dragonite just wouldn't stay down, making the job of the one that was guarding him that much more difficult.

Eventually, the Toxicroak trying to pry the pearl loose managed to pry it loose with one of its knuckle claws and was able to scoop it up. Pleased with himself, he went back toward his brother.

"Well bro, I finally managed to get that stupid rock out," the Toxicroak said.

"That's great." The other Toxicroak said, not taking his eyes of the Dragonite. "Don't bother following us old man. What you don't get involved in won't hurt you".

"No, but it might end up hurting you in the long run." a voice said behind them.

Turning around, the two Toxicroak saw Joey, Luca, and Gible were standing in front of the only exit out of there. Initially taken aback by the suddenness of their appearance, they smiled for some odd reason.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the punks who have been interfering in our plans", one of the Toxicroaks said. "I must say you've been a bit of a thorn in our master's side these past few weeks".

"Cut the small talk you pathetic frog," Luca said. "Drop the pearl and we won't have to hurt you".

"Oh… what a coincidence," the other Toxicroak laughed. "We were just about to hurt you".

With that, both Toxicroaks ran at the group, Poison Jab armed and ready to strike. Joey immediately intercepted the attacks, and since he was a Steel type, he didn't feel anything from the attacks, allowing him to push both opponents back with a well placed Shadow Claw. Quickly regrouping, one of the Toxicroak fired Shadow Ball while the other fired Dark Pulse into it. Before it could even land, Gible countered with Hidden Power, and thanks to the attack have a Ground Type effect, the combined attacks were immediately overpowered and the remained hit both Toxicroaks. Getting desperate, the Toxicroaks tried using Focus Punch, but were intercepted by a pair of Aura Spheres by Joey and Luca, taking them out of the fight.

Satisfied, the group walked over to the Dragonite and helped the old Pokémon to his feet.

"Are you all right, master?" Gible asked.

"I'll be all right," Dragonite said. "I've taken worse beating then what those two did to me. In any case, it was lucky you and your friends showed up when you did. I'm not sure how far they would've gotten if you didn't. Now, if you boys don't mind, I have an interrogation to attend to".

Knowing what he meant, the group quickly scooted out of the way as Dragonite walked over to the semiconscious Toxicroak and hoisted them up to face level.

"Now before I let these fine young boys cart you off to wherever it is they're taking you, kindly tell me where you're cohorts are hiding the other gems," Dragonite calmly said.

"We don't have the other gems," one of the Toxicroak said. "And even if we did, there is no way that we'd tell you, old man".

"Don't play dumb with us," Joey said. "We saw those friends of yours take off with the Ruby of Spirit. If you guys don't have the gems, then who does?"

"That would probably be… me." an eerily calm voice said right behind.

A tall figure stepped out of the shadows and faced everyone in the cave. It appeared to be Pokémon in nature but it was really hard to tell from its shape. It had feline like characteristics yet was standing on two legs. It was rather muscular an exuberated an aura of pure power. It had a royal purple tail sticking out his back and violet eyes that seemed rather soulless. To complete the strange picture it was carrying a dirty brown satchel.

Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then an odd wave of nostalgia hit Joey, and for a while he couldn't remember where he was or what he was doing there. All he could think about was the mysterious Pokémon that had just showed up out of nowhere.

"Okay, who are you and what do you want?" Luca asked, snapping Joey out of his trance.

"My name is of no importance to you," the Pokémon telepathically said. "However, if you must know, I'm here for the ruby and I'm in desperate need of it".

"Well sorry to break it to you but there's no way we're going to let you take it," Gible said.

"I would prefer it if you didn't get in my way," the Pokémon said. "I am far stronger than all of you and can easily defeat you without a second thought".

"Pretty big talk coming from a thief," Dragonite said. "If you think you can beat us in a fight than you'll find my friends and I are up to the challenge".

"Well… if you insist on making this mistake, then I am more than willing to oblige you," the Pokémon said.

Before Dragonite could do anything, the mysterious Pokémon enveloped him with Psychic and slammed him against a nearby wall, taking it out of the fight. The two Toxicroak, who had been released when the Pokémon showed up, tried to spirit away with the ruby, but another Psychic caught them and sent them crashing into the stalagmites, making them drop the ruby.

Gible, sensing the urgency now that the ruby was exposed, tried using Dragon Rage, but was stopped by a murky blue bubble that completely blocked that attack and the Aura Sphere that Luca shot at him shortly afterward. Slightly amused, the Pokémon shot an Aura Sphere of its own, knocking out both Pokémon at once. With the others out of the way, the Pokémon turned its attention to Joey, who was about to launch a powerful Aura Sphere of his own. Unfortunately, once they made eye contact, Joey fell back into that same state of nostalgia, making the attack miss wide and explode against the wall.

Slightly surprised yet unrelenting, the Pokémon shot an Aura Sphere at Joey that slammed into his chest. Although hurt, he managed to get back to his feet with some difficulty.

"That's quite remarkable," the Pokémon said. "Hardly anyone is able to withstand my attacks. Perhaps there might be some hope for you. However, I've already wasted enough time with this foolishness".

With that, the Pokémon used Psychic and pinned Joey to the wall. Unable to move, he could only watch as the Pokémon enveloped the ruby in a blue light and placed it in the bag, where Joey could see the Emerald of Wisdom, the Pearl of Spirit, and an unfamiliar light blue rock. Then it released its hold on Joey and made its way out of the cave.

Free from the hold, Joey ran over to help his friends up. Slowly getting to their feet, Luca and Gible surveyed the area.

"Oh man… did we screw up big time," Luca said.

"I know," Gible said. "I can't believe we let some random Pokémon get the jump on us. Who was that guy anyway?"

"Mewtwo… his name is Mewtwo," Joey said.

"Who is he?" Luca asked, surprised that his friend even knew who the attacker was.

"Ugh… I can't remember," Joey groaned. "Anyway that's not important right now. What was that blue rock he had in that satchel?"

"That had to be Legends Diamond." Dragonite said feebly. "There's no other explanation".

"How can you tell?" Joey skeptically asked.

"Legends Diamond is protected by so many defenses that there's no need for a Pokémon to be stationed there," Dragonite explained. "It would take either an exploration team of considerable skill or the other four gems combined in order to get through them. Given that Pokémon's considerable strength, I'd guess that it managed to get through the barriers rather easily".

"Well that's just great," Joey moaned. "Now we're down to one last gem to protect. Let's just hope the other's had a better time than we had.

**Caster: And another chapter has come to a close. Before we go any further, NITRO here has something he wants to say. Don't you NITRO.**

**Me: *sigh* Sorry for not updating sooner and all that other garbage.**

**Amy: Lovely. Anyhow, let's get back to business. For those of you voted for Mewtwo, your cookie will be on the way shortly. For those who didn't I have one thing to say: YOU IDIOTS! There is no way Meinshao can get that high in the air much less be a clone! Expect more insults to arrive in the mail! *ahem* So until next time…**

**Everyone: Catch you later dudes!**

**Me: Good, now that that's taken care of, I'm going back to bed.**


	17. the Last Chance

**Luca: What's up folks? We just found out some news today. Apparently Nitro, in the interest of putting more of his attention on some of his other stories, he'll be turning this story into a 2-parter. This will be the last chapter that has any major action in it… or not, depending on how he plans on ending the story.**

**Amy: He also said to tell you not to whine about this turn of events. We know some of you will want to see this play out even further but it's his choice and not yours.**

**Castor: Hey guys, have any of you seen NITRO? I've been trying to get in touch with him to ask what the situation with us is but I haven't heard a word from him.**

**Amy: I don't know, Castor. He said something about going to some sort of dentist, but I couldn't tell what he meant by that.**

**Castor: Oh.**

**Joey: Well, regardless of NITRO's disappearance, he'd like to remind you that anonymous reviews have finally opened. So if any of you who are reading this don't have an account, you don't need one to post reviews anymore  
**

"Hurry up, Luca," Joey yelled. "We'll never be able to catch up with Mewtwo if you keep slowing down like that".

"Will you shut up," Luca snapped. "Not everyone is blessed with a continuous flow of energy, you know".

Instead of going right back to the Guild to explain what was going on like Gible had done, Joey and a somewhat grudging Luca were heading through a jungle that supposedly led to Blessed Gethsemane, the home in which Luca had lived prior to the death of his family. According to Luca, the place was sealed off from outsiders unless either you had any of the gems or someone who lived there gave you allowed you to go in, hence the reason why Luca had allowed Roselia and Noctowl to enter. Now that Mewtwo was one gem away from fulfilling whatever agenda he had, Luca had no choice but to lead Joey where it was.

Eventually, the trail they were on ended at the other end of the forest. When he stepped out into the sunlight, the first thing Joey saw was a vast beautiful valley that seemed to stretch out forever. He could see various huts and houses at random parts of the valley.

"Whoa… this place is incredible," Joey gawked. "Oh… I could hang here. I could _hang _here".

"Yeah well, you're one of the lucky ones," Luca said. "From what I'm told, most that come here only see a giant crevice in the middle of some sort of barren hill".

"Ew… that doesn't sound all that fun," Joey said.

"That's what I said when I found out," Luca laughed. "If it wasn't for the fact that I was born here, I probably… hey, what's that".

Their attention was immediately attracted by a large quantity of black smoke near the middle of the part of the valley that they could see.

"Is there some sort of fire over there?" Joey asked.

"I don't know, but it certainly seems odd," Luca said. "Come on, we'd better go check it out".

On that note, the duo rushed down the hill and made their way to where the smoke was. Once they got there, they saw something that wasn't entirely unexpected: Mewtwo holding some sort of sapphire in his paw with the unconscious forms of Roselia, Noctowl, several Drapion that looked like they were part of the group of thieves, and a Ninetails that was obviously guarding the sapphire when he was attacked. Mewtwo didn't even turn around until after they caught up to him.

"Well, you're determined," he said. "I'll give you that much. Sadly you're too late to stop me from getting the Sapphire of Trust".

"Maybe, but we still have time to keep you from getting away with it," Luca said.

Joey and Luca started the brawl by launching a volley of aura spheres at Mewtwo, hoping most would hit him. They cursed to themselves as they saw Mewtwo hold his hand out, mysteriously causing them to diverge from Mewtwo and fly past him, destroying the ground behind him. In frustration of his failed attack, Joey charged at Mewtwo with an extreme speed attack. With a quick movement Joey brought up his fist for a punch only to be grabbed by Mewtwo. A sickly grin was forming on his face, making Joey growl.

"It's never very often that I have to dirty my own hands with physical labor. I have to commend you for that," Mewtwo spoke as he tossed Joey towards Luca, causing them to collide into each other.

Joey groaned his way back up as he saw Luca was still dazed from the attack. He tried standing up further only to realize he was enveloped in an indigo aura. Suddenly he was sent flying towards Mewtwo. One hand was emanating the aura that held Joey in the air while the other was rummaging through his satchel.

"I discovered the most interesting thing about these gems, kid," Mewtwo said as he pulled out Legend's Diamond. "Not only do they balance the world and grant the wish of anyone who gathers them in a specific place, but they also have an effect on the people around them. So I must ask…" he held the gem in front of Joey "…what does this one do?"

Mewtwo smiled as the diamond began to glow. Joey tried to look away but the eerie glow of the sapphire drew his mind in. Suddenly he was losing grasp of things like his name, his friends his goals. All the while his fur lost its color, turning into a dull gray tone, even his eyes were slowly going blank. Satisfied with his actions, Mewtwo tossed him aside and began to float away as he slowly faded into unconsciousness. However, he was barely out of the valley's range when he felt a strange presence behind him.

Turning around, Mewtwo saw Joey levitating right in front of him, except his fur was now pure white and his paws, spikes, and the bundles of hair on the back of his head were a shimmering gold. His eyes were completely soulless, yet it wasn't hard to tell who he was staring at.

"Mewtwo… I am ashamed of you." Joey said; his voice warped as it seemed to be overlapped with someone else's. "When I sent you to this world, I had done so in the impression that you were going to help your friend. Now it seems that it wasn't the case".

"Uh… I'm flattered that you know about what my mission is but this had nothing to do with you," Mewtwo said.

However, instead of saying anything, Joey shot a ball of white light into the air. The ball then exploded into several red and grey orbs that fell toward the ground, several of which hit Mewtwo before he could even react. Then, before he could even recover, Mewtwo was struck by a fireball from Joey, effectively taking it out of the fight. He fell out of the sky at a steadily quickening pace before Joey caught him. He then took him back to Blessed Gethsemane and set him down in front of the others, making sure he took the gems out of Mewtwo's satchel. Then, with the mission done, his fur, spikes, and eyes turned back to their normal coloring before he collapsed unconscious on the ground.

**Amy: Well there you have it folks. Another chapter logged. Now apparently we have to send out credit to Serenity in Virginia for making the bulk of the fight scene in the chapter, so he has the credit. Oh hey NITRO. What wrong with your mouth?**

**Me: Ugh, I had to get some teeth yanked out. I've been feeling horrible all day.**

**Luca: That is disgusting man.**

**Me: It still hurts… like going from a prone position to standing. It's… oh. Anyway, until my mouth decides to agree with me…**

**Everyone: Catch you later, dudes!**


	18. Conking Out, Waking up, and Conking Out

**Me: What up, folks. Well this is it: the last chapter of the story. Again, I'm sorry I'm ending the story like this but I want to focus on some of my other stories**

**Others come in**

**Amy: Are you all right, NITRO? You don't look so happy.**

**Me: Of course I'm not happy. This is the last chapter of one of my most popular stories. How do you expect me to end the story and not feel miserable about it?**

**Joey: We don't. But that doesn't mean you can infect the rest of us with that Debbie Downer bug you have.**

**Castor: Yeah. Like you said, this is one of your more popular stories. You should be proud of what you accomplished, despite what losers like that Flandre person say.**

**Me: I guess. Oh well, it can't be helped. This is the last chapter so for the final time: Enjoy.**

"Joey… come on man, you can't give up on me now," Luca sobbed. "You just have to come back. I can't stand losing anyone close to me again".

How Joey had managed to stop Mewtwo from spiriting away the Sapphire of Trust wound up being anyone's guess. However, glad that the gem was still safe, they had a more pressing emergency on their hands as the transformed human was still unconscious by the time Ninetails and the others had managed to carry him back to the guild. Luca had been crying nonstop since they got back, and seeing as Joey was the only person he looked up to anymore, it was not hard to see why.

"Joey, you have to stay calm," Celebi said. "I know he was a big brother to you but crying over him isn't going to bring him back to life".

Luca didn't seem to care. He was so upset about Joey's condition that it was impossible for anyone to convince him to leave his side. Then again, it did kinda hurt everyone that Joey, they guy who could take everyone out without so much as breaking a sweat, was going down. Everyone in the whole town had figured that the kid was the toughest SOB in the entire world, making his death all the more painful if it actually happened.

"Out of the way! Out of the way!"

A Plusle and Minun made their way down into the guild. They immediately made their way over to where Joey was and just knocked Luca out of the way. They then began charging up the ends of their cheeks.

"Clear!" they both yelled.

With that, they brought their tails down on where Joey's heart would be. In seconds, Joey immediately upright, his fur standing out all over the place from the excess static the two left behind.

"I'm up-I'm fully up!" he said, the speed of his voice making it seem like he was being powered by the energizer bunny.

The guild let out a collective sigh of relief. They then crowded around the still delirious kid and began expressing their joy in the fact that he was still alive. Luca in particular was particularly vocal about it, going so far as to hug the guy at the risk of being zapped by the residual static. All the while, Joey was slightly surprised about what was going on.

"Uh… thanks guy," he said.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," Luca cried. "I thought you were gone. Please promise me you'll never do anything like that again".

"Luca…" Joey said.

"Promise me…" Luca pleaded.

"Ok, Luca… I promise," Joey said. "Now I just need to find out what happened after Mewtwo flashed me with that sapphire. I don't know what came over me".

"I'd say about 20,000 volts there, Medusa," Murkrow quibed.

Everyone except Joey laughed at that joke. Joey, who for obvious reasons was not impressed, immediately began matting down the charged fur that was still sticking up.

"Ha ha, very funny you guys," he said. "Next time tell me I look ridiculous before you just straight up make fun of it".

"I'm sorry…" Murkrow wheezed. "I know that was nothing to laugh about. But the timing was just too perfect to resist".

"Well, nobody knows how Mewtwo was stopped," Grovyle said. "As far as were aware, Mewtwo was already defeated by the time everyone came too. But on the plus side, we did manage to get all the gems back and are currently sending them back to their respective locations".

"What about Mewtwo?" Joey asked.

"Oh you don't have to worry about him," Celebi said. "Dusknoir is currently interrogating him. It won't be long before he finds out what Mewtwo was planning, no matter how strong the guy is".

"Well that's good to know." Joey said as he slowly got to his feet.

As he was slowly getting his legs back under him, Dusknoir and two of the Sableye dropped down from the ladder.

"Ah, we were just talking about you," Celebi said. "How goes interrogating Mewtwo?"

"Not well," Dusknoir said. "He keeps saying he's only here to rescue his friend and take him back to his own world. I can understand that Joey might be from a different world, but this guy? I don't know what to make of this anymore".

"That obviously just a fabrication," Joey said. "There is no way this guy can be from some other world. It just a story he's trying to use to keep us from trying to use to keep us from finding out what he's really up to. You have to keep on the guy until he comes clean with the real story".

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Joey," Dusknoir said. "It should be too difficult to interrogate Mewtwo now".

Unfortunately, 'interrogate Mewtwo' was the least of Dusknoir's worries right now. Immediately after he said this, the most horrible smell imaginable filled the room. Everyone began coughing and began trying to get out of the room. Luca and Joey were the last to leave the room because of the rush to escape, but before they could climb up the ladder to the entrance, they were knocked out and that was the last thing they knew.

**Nerio: Uh, NITRO… why'd you add that last bit of action when this is the last chapter of the story?**

**Me: It's called the ending action teaser. This is what the cool authors do when they want to set up a sequel.**

**Nerio: OK… well, until NITRO here decided to start this sequel…**

**All: Catch you later, Dudes!**


End file.
